Fight, Live, Retaliate
by 258494
Summary: AU. Read warnings. Before Robin was Batman's crime fighting sidekick, Robin was known as a hero and a thief. Living with an abusive parent at the time, will he ever meet Bruce and Young Justice? Will he cope?  Yeah, it's one of those kinds of fics .
1. The Apple Thief

**A/N: Sorry for a crappy ending to Warm Shadows guys, but the reason for it is cause I'm redoing it in this story. For those who haven't known, Warm Shadows was a free written type of story with no real guideline, and I really didn't like it. So I'm rewriting the story so that is has more guidelines for me to follow so I'm more organized.  
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**Thanks for those who bore with me, enjoy the first chapter of the remake.**

**For those who read Warm Shadows, the remake begins similarly.**

**Warnings: Language, violence, child abuse, dark themes.**

**AU + OOC (at DickGrayson1Fan: Thanks for catching that, didn't know what I was thinking when I wrote the A/N which was sort of last minute thing so I apologize. I was originally supposed to write AU + Somewhat OOC, but now that I think of it, I'm not sure anymore haha. And yes I do know Grayson's history from watching Batman as a child and comic collecting while growing up. Though I admit, I don't know much about Wally! Anyway, thanks again! P.S: Don't gotta' act so harsh ^^" a simple correction can be corrected with a simple notice.)  
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Fight, Live, Retaliate

Chapter 1

The Apple Thief

"Hey Dick!" Wally shouted with a wave as he jogged down the hallway towards his best friend's locker.

Dick was cramming all of his textbooks and the many loose sheets of paper into his stubborn locker. "Hey." He spoke as he gave his locker a good slam. "Finally... so what's up Wally?" He turned to face the teenager.

"Nothing, I was—what happened to your face?" the speedster asked as he gently brushed his thumb over the existing bruise on Dick's cheek.

"Don't do that." the shorter boy urged wincing.

"Sorry. So how'd you get it?"

"Ahh…" Dick thought for a while, "I don't really wanna' talk about it."

"Alright… I mean, if you say so." Wally reluctantly replied, giving the boy some space. He noticed Dick had been awfully secretive lately. Sometimes he wanted to just pry a little deeper and find the source of his discomfort, but prying never solves anything. He forced himself to let it slide, thinking Dick would talk about it when he was ready.

The two boys walked down the hallway until they exited the school building. Dick remained quiet as they strolled. He kept his distracted eyes glued to the floor, dragging his body that was disinclined to move.

Wally was unaware, but underneath Dick's thin layers of clothing were a series of black and blue bruises, one on top of another along with a variety of scars. Each step he took stung and it took every bit of energy he had to walk forward.

"Wanna' walk me home?" Dick asked with a weak pathetic smile, breaking the silence as they reached the end of the sidewalk. He already knew the next answer to come, but he always liked to pinch himself with a little bit of hope.

"Sorry Dickie, can't." the speedster replied sympathetically. This short conversation turned into a routine that Wally took as casual. He didn't see it as an oblique plead for help.

It was irony that settled between the two. Wally, being Kid Flash and saving citizens from all over the city, failed every day to save the helpless soul in front of his eyes. Dick nodded with disappointment and watched as they parted ways.

He trudged his body forward, his stomach growling and his head feeling nauseous. He remembered the last time he'd been fed properly, which was four years ago, before his adoption. Living in an orphanage, he at least got a decent meal.

_Why is everyone so psyched about getting adopted? I rather be un-adopted! Un-adopted? dopted? I rather be dopted._

By the time he had finisheddebating about prefixes with himself, he had reached the doorstep of his "home." He didn't bother knocking on the door, because he figured it would have been unlocked from countless opened-invitation parties. And he was right. The knob twisted easily in his hand and he pushed the door opened.

"If you'd just get off your ass and try using your incompetent mind, maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation!" his foster mother yelled as she stormed out of the kitchen. She strode past her child and skimmed her long painted fingernails along Dick's shoulder. "Hey son, kisses." She whispered quickly, passing through the door.

_Son, child, boy, kid, it, that's all they ever call me._ At this point, Dick was particularly sure that his caretakers did not bother to learn his name. He huffed as he tried to maneuver to his room without being spotted through the kitchen door.

"Child." He heard a gruff voice call the second his foot passed the opening. Sighing, he turned around and hesitantly entered the kitchen.

"Child, sit" Tom, his foster father spoke firmly as Dick walked along the tile flooring. He had a cigarette between the side of his lips and took another drag.

"Yes?" Dick asked wearily as he took a seat from the farthest end of the table.

Tom blew out a long stream of thick gray smoke and growled lowly. "Closer."

The black haired boy nervously dropped his backpack and pulled out a chair next to his father's. As he sat down, an abrupt burning sensation took over the back of his right hand making Dick hiss uncontrollably.

"What was that?" Tom asked, cocking his eyebrow as he grinded the cancer-stick against Dick's skin.

The teenager bit his lip back and forced himself to sit. "N-nothing." He responded coarsely.

"Where's your mother?"

"She left a few minutes ago." Dick replied bluntly and blindly.

A swift and fierce backhand struck Dick's already bruised cheek. The impact swung the boy right off his seat and he landed on the cold tiles. He heard as the chair Tom sat on screeched as it was pushed away roughly and then tossed to the side.

"Damn right she _left._" His father growled. "That whore, _left_. Me."

"Left?" Dick dared to ask. Whenever Wendy left Tom, she always came back under the roof the next day. However, it was different when Tom threw a set of papers at Dick's body. Dick picked up one of the pages and skimmed the contract, only to find the word "divorce" appear more than once.

Dick never imagined to see the day when his foster mother would leave the broken family. Everything seemed to spiral out of control the moment Dick had become the new addition. Tom grew relentlessly aggressive and his wife began to sleep with other men.

Even though, none of this was Dick's fault, he felt that it was.

Tom lit another cigarette then grabbed Dick's shirt collar and crudely rammed the boy's spine into the wall. He blew a puff of smoke into the child's face, growing bored when Dick didn't show any strong reactions. "I'll deal with you later, go to your room."

As Tom released his death grip on the shirt, Dick scurried away. He dropped the divorce paper and snagged his backpack as he threw himself into the barren room. He tossed the backpack in the corner along and took a seat on the cheap dog bed. One of the few pieces of furniture in between the walls.

He curled into himself, trying to get comfortable in his bed. It was raggedy and torn, but it still had some of the original stuffing which gave it a bit of fluff. Even though Dick was a former, but flexible acrobat, he couldn't fit his growing body onto the bed of cotton. In the end, he had his legs sprawled out and his upper torso in the fluff.

When he finally managed to find a comfortable position, his stomach growled wildly. He scowled at the grumbling that vibrated throughout his entire frame and flipped over onto his back. _Great. I can't even take a nap without my own body harassing me._

He rummaged through his closet and pulled out a red t-shirt along with a thin black hoodie and a black pair of jeans. He hastily changed his clothes, wearing the t shirt over his hoodie. Tucked inside one of the holes of his bed was a black domino mask, which he also took out and secured in front of his eyes.

Dick jammed the door knob with a wooden chair and crawled out of the window as the sun began to set. It was just going to be another simple attempt at trying to snag a bite to eat. Using an intricate route of alleyways he mapped out, he managed to bring himself onto the outdoor market streets. There were vendors everywhere, some with carts, some with stalls. The one with stalls were the easiest to steal from, so he sucked up his guilt and aimed for a fruit stand.

He pulled the hood over his face and kept his head down, hiding his domino mask. As he passed by the stand, with a sleight of hand, he popped an apple into his palm. Before he could tuck it away, someone grabbed his wrist.

"Stealing isn't the way to go!" A cheerful, yet familiar voice spoke, tugging the teenager's wrist.

Dick spun around and stared at Wally, who was standing with two other boys and two other girls. _So this is why he's been so busy lately… he has other friends. I should have known._

Wally mouthed, "Robin…" Then stared at the familiar bruise on the teenager's face.

Dick smirked and pulled his wrist away from Wally as he felt adrenaline fill his system. He ran with the fruit, darting down the street, plunging back into the shadows.

He could hear the group of teens still trying to pursuit him, but why? What did they want with him? As Robin filled his mind with questions, he thoughtlessly took a wrong turn, leading him into a solid brick wall.

"You're not going anywhere." A larger, black haired teenager stated. He wore a black shirt with a red version of Superman's "S" in the center.

Robin took an offensive position, his legs apart and his hands held up, balled into fists.

"We don't want to fight," Wally clarified as he pushed through his friends. "just to talk."

Robin relaxed his shoulders and retreated his position. When he saw the group of teenagers do the same, he instantly leapt off from the tips of his feet. He gripped tightly onto the metal railing and pulled himself upwards, working his way through the fire escape until he reached the top of the building.

"Miss Martian, keep an eye on him." Kaldur commanded. The brown haired girl's skin went from peach to green, and she floated into the sky.

Robin kept his pace, running to the ends of each building and diving off the edges at full force. He landed perfectly onto the rooftop of the next, and the next, until he lost his footing from a broken roof tile. As he tumbled off the rooftop, Miss Martian quickly used her telekinesis abilities to gently lower his body to the ground.

By this time, the group of teenagers had caught up.

"Please Robin, don't run!" Wally begged. "We just want to talk."

"Bullshit." Robin spat as he took up another fighting position.

"We do not wish to fight." Kaldur explained. "It is not necessary."

Robin shook his head and ran at top speed towards Wally. He swung his leg at a slow pace, slow enough that anyone could dodge.

Wally ducked under it and Connor jumped in with a swing from his dominate hand.

Robin side stepped and gave the large teenager a good kick in the back, sending him to the ground easily. He tossed the apple in his hand and asked, "so… you gonna' take this from me or what?"

A loud explosion occurred and everyone snapped their heads to the source of the sound. Dick's second instincts took over and he dashed to the scene with the other teenagers trailing behind him.

There was a car accident, and flames were quickly engulfing the vehicle. Robin knew that there were people still inside, and he ran towards the burning automobile. With his elbow, he cracked the windows and pried the glass away from the frame. He pulled the semi-conscious bodies from the car and dragged them onto the sidewalk to a safe distance.

Robin then immediately left the scene as quickly as he arrived.

When the group of teenagers reached the scene, Kaldur used his water bearers to channel water from a fire hydrant, putting out the fire.

"Is anyone in the car?" Kaldur asked Artemis and Connor who were already running towards the steaming vehicle.

"No."

"They're over here!" Miss Martian called, a few feet away from the scene.

"What the…?" Connor wondered.

"Robin…" Wally muttered in response to Superboy's unasked question.

* * *

><p>Robin watched as he perched alongside the edge of a building. Police cars were beginning to swarm the scene, taking questions from each of the teenagers. He swung his legs freely while observing the act.<p>

Being Dick, he felt so constrained. But being Robin, he felt so free.

"Robin." A low voice spoke from behind.

Robin turned around and met the Dark Knight. "Batman." He returned the greeting.

"I saw what you did."

"Amazing, aren't I?"

"You stole."

Robin gulped, twisting his lips. "So what're you going to do now Bats? Lock me up for saving two lives?" The black haired boy responded, trying to keep up his façade.

"No. But I do have an important question to ask you."

"Fire away, I'm feeling generous."

"I'll let you go with thievery this once. Are you working with any villains?" Batman asked in vibrating tones.

"No."

"Superheroes?"

"I work with no one Bats." Robin replied.

The city clock rung loudly, signaling that an hour had passed. Dick's head shot up, realizing that he was more than late. He had to get home. He took off on his feet once more and flipped through the city.

Batman walked to the edge of the building and picked up the apple that the bird left behind. Who _exactly_ is Robin?

He was bound to find out.


	2. Hush

**A/N: I'm not updating Warm Shadows anymore, so you guys can swipe it off your favs and alerts. Thanks for still staying with me even after pathetically cutting off Warm Shadows ^^" It means a lot to me.**

**and at LurkingInThemShadows: sadly he doesn't get to eat the apple. I actually had him eat the apple in my notes, but once I did, I immediately ran into a dead end.**

**at Those who read Warm Shadows: didn't you guys always wondered… "Wtf, Dick lives in bad family, with bad clothes, but has a very nice Robin costume?" Cause I did, I was like, WHAT WAS I THINKING.**

**at anon: Don't worry, I took out the noncon, I didn't like it as well.**

**Lastly, at DickGrayson1Fan: If you're still reading this for some odd reason, I left you a note on the beginning of chapter 1 xD, please read it thanks!**

**Enjoy!**

**P.S: Wally, Connor, M'gann, Kaldur, and Artemis already know each other inside YJ and outside of it.**

Fight, Live, Retaliate

Chapter 2

Hush

Dick didn't look back as he leapt through the air. Knowing he left his apple back the building, he instinctively grabbed his stomach when it growled loudly while he was in midair.

_Shut up stomach!_

_Grggrowl—!_

_Tonight! I promise!_

_Gruggle…_

He rolled his eyes. _I'm having a conversation with my organ._

He could feel himself moving sloppier as his began to lose his balance. Each time the toes of his shoes connected with another rooftop, he stumbled uncontrollably. There were a few times where he almost rolled right off the ledges.

Dick eventually landed on top of his house, but not as smoothly as he would have liked. He staggered a few extra steps forward on the spine of the roof until he finally corrected his poise. He slowly crept over and peered above the front door. Strangers were walking in and out, most of them carrying cigarettes or a bottle of beer. It was going to be another long night.

He crawled around to his unlocked window and slipped inside. He could hear voices of many people he didn't recognize, but he did recognize Tom's rumbustious vocals.

He stripped off his t-shirt and hoodie, changing into a thicker sweater for cold nights and decided to start his homework. As he kicked off his shoes and reached for his book bag, the door to his room shook with loud banging noises.

"Ci—rcus-child!" He heard Tom slur. "Come out, out'ere and enter… entertain us!"

Dick bit back as he pulled the domino mask from his eyes and hid it inbetween the fluff on his pathetic excuse for a bed. The circus had always been a touchy subject to the former acrobat. Even mentioning the word could have easily drawn out his worst memories. Though, he was instantly jerked back to the dismal reality by repetitive knocks on his door.

"Child!"

Dick snapped his head forward and quickly removed the chair from under the doorknob. At the same moment, Tom turned the knob and pushed the door open, nearly thwacking Dick's forehead in the process.

"Get over here." Tom grumbled, as he roughly yanked the smaller boy's forearm. He dragged Dick into the center of a group of party-goers, none which he recognized. Dick was even sure that Tom didn't know the names of half of the people, none the less, a tenth of them.

The small teenager looked around with his blood rushing nervously. He glanced at a the persons in a frenzy, before fixing his gaze to the carpet. "I don't know what to do." He whimpered, feeling his fingers as his palms began to sweat.

Tom calmly approached the boy with a devious smile. "I got the solution." He replied. He held up his arm high, making the fragile boy instinctively close his eyes.

Dick felt an unfriendly wash of alcohol damp his hair, and soon enough, the careless and inattentive drunks began to mimic Tom's motion. The strong smell of different types of liquor stuck to the fabric of Dick's shirt, and the fabric of Dick's shirt stuck to Dick's skin. He felt tears well up in the base of his eyes as he stood shaking.

He began to cry when he figured that was gone unnoticed. As Tom strolled away to interact with the many other stoned women and men, Dick scurried back into his room.

He was soaked and couldn't find a way to dry himself.

"I miss you mom… dad…." Dick muttered to himself as he sat cross legged in his doggy bed. He tucked himself into a tiny ball, as he felt small in such a large and empty world. He kept his head close to his chest and shivered while he slept.

* * *

><p>Wally was sprawled on a couch in the Justice League tower. His eyes lazily scanned various news channels as he continuously clicked the remote. He stopped at a particular news station that had captured the car accident. "Hey, we're on T.V.!" He shouted from his relaxed position.<p>

As a clear photograph of Robin appeared on the screen, his finger immediately hit a button that paused the it.

Connor perked up when the speedster froze the broadcast at a certain point. "What are you doing?" he asked blankly.

"It's just…, arghh! He looks so familiar! It's on the tip of my tongue..."

"Maybe you're just paranoid," M'gann giggled as she walked into the little T.V. area and held out a metal tray. "Cookies anyone?"

Wally instantly reached over and grabbed a handful of burnt cookies while Connor gestured a friendly 'no' with his hand.

M'gann sat down and held the remote. She hovered her finger over one of the buttons and asked, "may I?"

"Go for it." Wally permitted, and Miss Martian resumed the original broadcast.

"And are you sure it was Robin?" An interviewer asked a bystander.

"Yeah man! I was totally sure. He saved their lives." The witnessed emphasized, grabbing the microphone close to his lips. "How many other teenagers wear domino masks? It's not a fad is it?"

"I assure you it is not." The interviewer clarified, pulling his microphone back, "But, it's almost Halloween, can you still say that it was indeed Robin that you saw?"

"I swear." He responded. "The way he climbed up the building, there's no mistake, it was him."

"So far…" Wally spoke aloud, "we have Robin the thief who steals from fruit stalls, and Robin a boy of wonder. So which is it?"

"Boy wonder sounds right…" M'gann nodded at the idea. She held up a newspaper on the coffee table that read "Robin Catches Corrupt Criminal" in bold letters as evidence. "And don't forget, he apparently was the one behind the removal of three hostages from the bank robbery last week."

"But, he physically threatened a man a few days ago." Connor added.

"Yeah, for two dollars." Wally spat in defense. "The man even said so himself."

"Nevertheless, it is still wrong." Kaldur joined. "Did you guys find out any new information on Robin?"

"Ehh—not really," Wally sighed. "But what I do want to know is why Batman has a sudden interest in him."

The team seemed to agree harmoniously to that statement.

"We should begin patrolling." Kaldur suggested as night began to sneak up.

* * *

><p>Dick woke up and stretched his cramped spine like a house cat. He licked his dry lips, but frowned when it tasted like a cocktail.<p>

_Grurr—gle_

_Hush! I remember!_ Dick hissed at himself. He dove back into his closet and rummaged for the familiar set of clothes. He reeked of alcohol, but he was too hungry to care.

Besides, who would?

After changing his clothes, he used his fingers to messily comb his hair and slipped out the window. Dick stood on the window still and climbed onto the roof. He carefully walked himself to the end of one side and sprinted lightly to the end, leaping through the air. With a tap, he landed onto another rooftop, and then the cycle repeated.

He eventually made it out from the row of houses and into the plaza. Stalls never opened this late at night, so he aimlessly explored the city from above.

His nose picked up on delightful senses, from the distinctive scent of garlic bread to the rich fragrances of basil and spices. Of course, he couldn't just slip through the front door and yell, "THIS IS A HEIST! I DEMAND A LOAF OF GARLIC BREAD!" But he did run the scenario through his head once.

Dick's last resort was to camp at the backdoors of local restaurants and snag the leftovers. He knew one local joint that would leave its leftovers for stray cats and dogs. But it didn't feel right to steal from animals who were totally defenseless with no one to look out for them.

"If only I was a real Robin, I could eat birdseeds from the park's feeders." Dick sighed with an ineffective way of amusing himself. He sat on the ledge and swung his legs freely, looking down at the ant-like people who were standing outside fancy eateries.

They were all wearing dresses and tuxedos, or something formal. Their clothing sparkled as the spotlights hit them, and everyone had a heartwarming smile on their face. Moms and dads held their child's hand, or holding them in their arms—

Dick shook his head and leapt to the next building.

_There's always the garbage can._

_GRRRR—UGLE_

_Fine, no garbage can._

He paced back and forth until he smelled the aroma of homemade lasagna emit from a window of a large apartment building. The scent unconsciously lured him, and the next thing he knew, he was sitting on the fire escape right next to the window. Robin peaked inside and saw a little girl watching some nightly PBS Kids shows with a plate of food in her hands.

The little girl saw a shadow at the edges of the window and curiously opened the window.

"You know, that's very dangerous." Robin smirked. "I could have easily scooped you up and kidnapped you."

"Robin!" the girl shrieked in excitement.

"Shhh." Not so loud.

"You saved my daddy and my brother in the car accident!" She smiled, clinging to Robin's waist. "Thank you."

"Yeah… no problem." Robin spoke modestly.

"Here!" the innocent child offered, as she pushed her plate of lasagna into Robin's lap. "It's really good, my dad is the best cook in the world!"

Robin took a bite and his eyes lit up. "This is good, it's amazing." And that was no lie.

"Remy? Who are you talking to?" a man called from farther inside of the apartment room.

"Robin!" She called back.

"A Robin? At a time like this?" He asked, as he entered the room.

When the man's eyes connected with the teenager's domino mask, Robin fled. He didn't know why, but he felt like a dear in the headlights, and leapt off the fire escape. He rolled smoothly onto the rooftop of a nearby building but tripped over his own footing on the next leap. His fingers clasped onto the building's ledge and he nosily landed on the lid of a garbage can.

_Gr—ur—gle…_

_We just ate!_

"I hear something, it's over here!" A voice echoed, as Robin heard footsteps tap against the sidewalk.

_This is all your fault. _Robin glared at his stomach.


	3. Friends or What Part 1

**A/N: Thanks a bunch to those who reviewed, alerted, and faved!**

Fight, Live, Retaliate

Chapter 3

Friends or What? Part 1

Robin's head darted around frantically. He looked up, but couldn't find a fire escape or any ledges to grab onto. He instinctively ducked behind the dumpster and kept himself hidden as he heard footsteps creep closer.

"Huh…" I swear I heard something, a male voice said.

"Try your heat-sensing vision Supes."

"Right."

A few seconds passed and Robin could make out a faint shadow cast. When he saw a leg come into view, he quickly fell into position and rammed his small body against a massive torso. It was an embarrassing attempt at a tackle because he simply face planted Superboy's chest, without making him budge.

"Robin?" Superboy cried out in astonishment.

Without trying anymore futile shots, Robin sharply turned and dashed down the alleyway. He continued down the sidewalk until a sudden blur of color zoomed passed him. It stopped in front him and eventually became Kid Flash.

"Hey there Robin, just wondering, what are you doing at a time like this?" Wally asked instantly in a friendly tone.

"Probably thievery," Superboy snarled.

Robin was about to turn on his heels and run, but instead, was faced with Superboy, Miss Martian, and Kaldur.

"I wasn't stealing." Robin barked, angrily balling his hands. "I was just—achoo." _Great. I'm catching a cold._

"Getting sick?" Kid Flash queried with a sympathetic smile. He had managed to sneak behind the shorter boy and gently placed a reassuring palm on his shoulder. However, to his dismay, Robin flurried around and pushed himself backwards. The little bird's eyes widened to his touch but he didn't know why.

When Robin felt a hand constrict around his shoulder, he couldn't help but flinch. His heart raced and the only thing his mind could do was to escape. He didn't like contact. As he flung himself away from Kid Flash, he ended up bumping into Superboy.

"He smells like beer." Superboy scowled.

"Robin, do you drink?" Wally asked with concern, figuring that the boy was too small and too young to be anywhere close to legal drinking age.

"I don't drink." Robin yelled, trying to sound menacing. But another sudden sneeze broke his character as he used the sleeve of his hoodie to wipe his nose. All he wanted to do was run back to his doggy bed and hopefully be able to sleep through the rest of the night.

He analyzed his surroundings and was grateful when he realized this was one of his common roads. He maneuvered himself until he felt his foot fall off the sidewalk, and at the moment he hit street pavement he ran forward into the next alley.

He could hear the Young Justice team pursue him and so he began his scheme of elaborate turns. Diving into another path, he was hasty to grab a pebble and tossed it down the continuous alley.

The team continued their chase, using sound to navigate their way through the maze. But for Robin, he had already managed to scale a building and was standing on the rooftops. He smirked in amusement as he watched the team run themselves in circles. _Now to get home._

"Robin." A familiar voice greeted.

Robin turned around and met the Batman. It seemed more formal and right to meet the Dark Knight at night, versus the time he met him during the day. "Bats." He returned the greeting once again.

"Impressive."

"Huh?"

"You've managed to easily fool the team."

"Only until—achoo—Superboy uses his heat-sensing vision." Robin deducted. "Then Miss Martian would fly up, so I have to go."

Batman didn't want his chance to talk with the boy to slip away, so he pulled out his communicator and contacted Kaldur. He immediately told the Young Justice team to quit their pursuit and to head back to base or go home. He then shut off his com before the team could argue.

Robin nervously scratched the back of his head. "I assume you want to talk with me, but I—"

Batman narrowed his eyes, delivering a glare that changed Robin's course of words.

"—can stay." Robin twisted his lips with dissatisfaction. He fiddled with his fingers nervously as Dick began to wonder if Tom would wake up and realize he wasn't in bed.

He nearly tuned out Batman's speech, nodding occasionally, but was brought back when the Bat asked, "are you listening?"

"What—yeah." Robin coughed heavily. He assumed Batman had dismissed him, so he lugged his body along the rooftops, making his way back home.

On the other hand, Bruce Wayne eyed the boy curiously. Robin was continuously nodding as if he was being lectured. Regardless of the fact that he did not ask any yes or no questions, Robin continued to bob his head. When the little bird decided to leave, he decided to follow behind.

Robin tried to pace himself back to the row of houses, but his unceasing coughs and sneezes prevented him from moving as fast as he liked. Each cough threw off his equilibrium, but he forced himself to regain posture on each step. Normally, the cool weather would have kept his focus, but mixed with his headache, he began to feel dizzy.

"Crap…" he muttered as he realized he had skipped his destination. He reversed his steps and saw a black cape flutter from the edge of a building before disappearing. "Wonderful, I'm seeing things too." Robin added.

He kicked himself through the open window and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He carefully tucked his domino mask in between the fluff and curled into himself.

Bruce watched sadly as the little bird fell asleep on the filthy cushion. No being, human or animal should be subjected to this kind of living condition. He slipped through the window that Robin didn't bother to close. The room smelled like a mixture of smoke to a strong chlorine. Looking at the boy, he instantly recognized the face to be the famous acrobat Dick Grayson, which solved the "how was this boy so athletic?" question.

His boots silently snuck along the stained carpet lining as his eyes followed the water molded walls up to the ceiling. He even saw a neglected food dish containing bread that seemed to have caught the flu. The bread was still a full slice, letting him know that the boy hadn't taken a relieved him to know that the infamous Robin was stealing out of necessity and not for sheer entertainment.

The child has good intentions and morals.

He decided that it was time for him to leave and that he would address the situation as soon as he could. Bruce glimpsed at the boy's scrunched up face one last time. It broke his heart, but he knew he shouldn't stay long, so he slithered out the window and closed the it.

Dick awoke to the tapping of rain against his window. Alarmed, he snapped up from his sleeping position and shot glances throughout his empty room. _I didn't close the window._ Dick already knew that Tom wouldn't even bother to close the window himself. He shrugged off the thought and figured that he must have shut it unconsciously.

Usually, he would have used the sun to approximate the time or listened to the sound of clock tower, but the sun was hidden and the clock hadn't rung. He rushed throughout his routine of getting ready for school and flew out the door before Tom could have woken up.

With his backpack shielding his head, Dick sprinted as quickly as he could. Though, by the time he had reached under the school's shelters, he was drenched from shoulders to socks. He gave the school's door a little tug, but when he found that it was locked, he realized he was early.

He sat with his back against the door and watched the drops of rain pelt the sidewalk.

"Hey." Wally greeted as he walked up the steps. "You're here early." he spoke as he sat down. "Usually, you're late."

Dick didn't say anything. Instead, he just turned his head away and chewed on his lower lip. He was still upset that Wally had ditched him to hang out with his other friends at the marketplace.

"What's wrong?" he probed.

Dick shook his dry head and sluggishly asked, "Wanna' go hang out after school? Just walk around the mall?"

"I can't," Wally frowned, "I'm sort of busy."

That hurt. Dick clenched his teeth behind his closed lips, unsure what to say next. The two sat in silence with only the noise of the pouring raining until the janitor opened the door.

Wally tried to keep a civilian walking pace with Dick, but the shorter boy kept speeding up his stride. The speedster eventually just stopped, and turned around to go sit in his homeroom.


	4. Friends or What Part 2

**A/N: Read warnings on first chapter, yadda, yadda. I do not take ownership for characters, etcetc. Enjoy!**

**Thanks for those who reviewed, alerted, and faved. It makes me a happy camper and motivates me to make this run better.**

Fight, Live, Retaliate

Chapter 4

Friends or What? Part 2

Dick's heart fell with slight relief when Wally decided to leave him alone. He wouldn't have been able to explain his excessive sniffling and watery eyes. He quickly made his way to his classroom and took his seat at the front of the class. Today was one of the days when he wished there hadn't been a seating chart. He wrapped his arms around his head as he let it lay on the desk.

About fifteen minutes passed and bundles of students began to enter the classroom.

Class started and Dick could feel his face and body getting hot. He pressed his damp forehead against the sleeve of his shirt, disregarding the class completely.

"Richard?" the teacher called.

"Mrhmph…" Dick spoke in a muffled voice.

"Can you answer the question?"

He wearily rose his face and glanced at the whiteboard. "5.92 kilometers." He mumbled before tucking his head back into his arms.

"The answer was supposed to be in mi—"

"3.68 miles!" He nearly shouted into his limb.

"I want to see you after class."

_Great._ Time slowly trampled on, and Dick, without knowing, fell asleep in his forearms.

When the bell rang to send the students out to their break, the teacher gave Dick a gentle shake against his shoulder.

Dick lifted his head up, his face red and puffy. He tiredly kept eye contact with his teacher as she began to lecture him.

"Richard, you're a very bright boy, but smarts alone will not let you pass the class. You haven't been doing your homework lately and that is severely bringing your grade down."

"I just haven't had the time." Dick muttered. He could see his teacher's nose scrunch up and he asked in a raspy voice, "what?"

Then the question was brought up again. "Richard, have you been drinking?"

Dick flustered a no, but it wasn't believable. He was breaking out in sweat, with his red eyes and the lingering scent of alcohol in his hair. He was immediately escorted to the school's main office where he took a seat at the single chair. His teacher and the principal chatted behind doors as Dick fidgeted nervously.

The door creaked open and a faint voice murmured, "Dick?"

Dick's eyes narrowed as he turned around to see Wally slip inside.

"I had to see if—"

"What are you doing here?" the black haired boy snapped.

"I'm an office aid remember?" Wally replied. "I didn't see you at our usual lunch spot, so I stayed inside. It's still raining and…"

Still angry, Dick turned his head back around and tuned out the rest of Wally's voice. Wally sighed and looked down wretchedly. Scratching the back of his neck, he blabbered, "we're still friends right?"

Dick didn't respond.

The door flung open and the principal entered the room. Wally knew he would have been asked to leave, so he did so before being told. The principal walked to his desk and took his seat in the large black chair. He eyed the boy suspiciously and admitted to picking up the scent of alcohol in Dick's hair.

Dick made no comment. His glazed blue eyes just wandered to the floor keeping his attention to the rug hems.

"We're going to call your dad to pick you up."

It was the only line Grayson heard. He had never, _ever,_ been sent home. It would have meant Tom would have to get off his lazy ass and pick him up. Tom would have to stop whatever he was doing _just to pick him up_. That was never a good thing.

Dick only hoped that his foster parent would not bother to pick up the phone, but his dream was shattered when a voice was heard over the other line. The principal looked at Dick disappointedly, making the black haired boy feel worse than he should.

He exited and sat in the main office's waiting room where Wally peered over the counter. Dick could see Wally's eyes trail to meet his, but the set of emerald eyes darted away when it met blue. He just kept his focus on whatever the teen was doing as a mean of keeping him distracted.

"Where is _it_?" Tom's distinctive voice roared as he burst into the office.

Dick hoped that he could have just blended into his backgrounds like a chameleon. He kept his head down as Tom walked passed him. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Wally point and Tom turned around to grab him.

He began to feel skeptical of his friendship with Wally.

Tom gently nudged the boy outside of the school doors, but brutally flung him into the backseats of his car.

Dick felt his face burn against the fuzz covering and curled into himself. He let out another painful cough and began to breathe heavily. He was feeling nauseous and Tom could see it.

"If you puke in my car again, I will make you wish you never lived." He growled firmly.

The frail figure gagged on his own spit and could feel his stomach acids creep up his throat. He forced a swallow and kept everything down along with the unpleasant tingling in his throat. Tom's reckless driving wasn't helping Dick's stomach either. Every time they drove over a pebble or a bump, he could feel his stomach churn unkindly.

The former acrobat was grateful when the car came to a full halt. The door swung open and he could feel the rush of cold air brush against his cheeks. He was grabbed and dragged by the back collar of his sweater and was quickly hauled into the house. Instead of being left on the marble tiles, his body pulled until he felt mud and grass.

Backyard.

Tom left the child in the harsh rain in the center of lawn and taunted before leaving, "door's open, come inside, brat."

Dick he tried to wiggle some movement into his still figures. The rain seemed to nip and the wind seemed to bite. His bones creaked against one another as he threw his forearm forward and tried to crawl his way to warmth. But every time he tried to pull his underweight body, his muscles screamed in protest.

Twenty minutes went by and he was half numb, half immobilized. _This is it, I'm gonna' die._

His eyelids began to resign. They were incompletely closed when he felt the rough lugging of his body back into the house. A sharp kick landed against his tender stomach as he balled himself from the impact.

"Go to your room." Tom barked. When there was no response from the boy, he dropped his steel toed boot down onto Dick's little finger. A horrid crack was heard as his shoe broke the pinky and ring finger.

Dick yelped as pain swarmed into his fingers and reflexes pulled his hand back, tucking it beneath him. His legs were reluctant as he brought them forward to stand. Every cell in his body was screaming at him in protest. He had only managed three complete steps. On the fourth, Tom swung his foot into the back of Dick's knee, forcing him to the ground.

He kept his head close to the surface but winced when Tom grasped a handful of black hair and yanked his neck upward. His neck arched with discomfort as his foster father continued to pull it back abnormally. In one motion, his head was suddenly pushed with full strength and the excess momentum connected his forehead to the ground.

Dick was stunned and his vision blurred. He grudgingly heaved another arm forward and strenuously slide himself along the floor. He could feel Tom's sadistic glare burn the back of his skull, so he kept moving, trying to move faster and faster.

The broken acrobat finally managed to drag his worn out frame into his room. With his drained body, he quietly shut the door and flung himself into his bed of fluff.

* * *

><p>"Master Bruce, your coffee." Alfred spoke as he held a silver tray in his hands.<p>

"Thank you Alfred." Bruce responded while pulling the bat cowl over his face. He took a sip and placed the cup back on the tray, then proceeded to walk up the stairs.

Alfred turned around with his back straight as Bruce moved passed him. "May I ask where you are going sir?" He requested.

"I'm going to check on something."

"If it's Scarecrow you are looking for, I do believe you will need to take the Batmobile."

"It's not the Scarecrow," Batman assured, "he hasn't been doing anything diabolical, so he can wait."

"If you say so Master Bruce." Alfred replied as Batman exited the Bat Cave.

Bruce adjusted his utility belt and quickly fiddled with the little slots and pockets, making sure he had everything he needed for a simple stroll. He grappled his way into the city and located his destination fairly easily.

He perched on a rooftop of a house a few feet away. He spied on his destination that had policemen gathered around the house. An ambulance was carrying a body on a stretcher and he panicked.

With a finger on side of his temple, he used a vision magnification program that was built in his cowl. He zoomed into the stretcher, but let out a breath of relief when he deducted it was much too large to be who he thought it would have been.

_Keep it together Bruce, this is a crime scene._ He swapped his attention over to Dick's window, but frowned when he couldn't locate the small boy.

He could see a huge red stain in the carpet, and by analyzing the scene, he noted the trail of blood leading out of the stain. This could have been Dick's blood for all he knew. Bruce then realized that this trail could lead detectives to suspect Dick, and that was the last thing he wanted. He skillfully swung through the window without making a sound and began to swab multiple blood samples. After hastily working, He slipped the small vials into his utility belt and sprayed the remaining possible blood stains with ammonia before leaving.

Now that that was taken care of, where could the little Robin run off to?


	5. Friends or What Part 3

**A/N: You may have been confused in the last chapter: what happened? Well, it's getting built up to that point, so thanks for staying tuned, reviewing, alerting, and faving!  
><strong>

Fight, Live, Retaliate

Chapter 5

Friends or What? Part 3

_I'm not a killer._

_I'm not a killer!_

Robin chanted to himself as he leapt across rooftops in a frenzy. He panicked every time he saw the dried blood on his hands and under his fingernails. He just wanted them off.

He crashed hard on the ceiling as a violent coughed made its way out from his mouth. He skidded along his arm and laid there, tired. He began to feel hot and dizzy again, and suddenly felt as if he forgotten how to walk.

Dick didn't know what to do anymore, he couldn't just go back.

His ears picked up the slight landing of footsteps and he knew he had been caught. A dark shoe stood at his eye level, but he was too weary to look up.

"Robin?" He heard a low voice call his name.

"What…?" Robin replied groggily.

Batman could see the small boy sprawled along the ceiling with blood smeared on his cheeks and painted on his hands. He held back his gasp and help lift the boy into a sitting position.

"What happened?" Batman asked as he held the little bird's shoulders, gently staring into the black domino mask.

"It—was— an— acci— dent." Robin breathed between syllables. He felt a bead of sweat follow the contour of his cheek bone before his body gave out. He closed his eyes as he fell forward from exhaustion, landing into Batman's chest.

The Dark Knight had a sympathetic look hidden behind his cowl as he scooped Robin into his arms. He instantly knew that the little thief was harboring a fever and he couldn't just leave him outside to die. Thus, Bruce did the first thing that came to mind.

* * *

><p>"Master Bruce, I assure you he will be fine." Alfred insisted while handing several samples of blood he took from Robin. One was Robin's actual blood and the other vials were swabbed off his hands and nails.<p>

"Thanks Alfred." Bruce sighed while taking the vials. "And Alfred, can you keep his mask on? I want him to take it off when he feels comfortable."

"No worries Master Bruce, I had not touched his mask at all. But may I ask what do you plan on doing with Robin after he gets better?"

"I'm not sure yet. I haven't thought that far." Bruce confessed as he walked around the Bat Cave. As each DNA scan was complete, he would switch out the vials and start another blood scan. His results from all the blood samples he collected showed only two people. Dick Grayson and another man named Tom Johnson whom he found through an identity-database.

Bruce had a scowl on his face with his brow in a deep furrow.

"What is the matter Master Bruce?" Alfred asked, raising his eyebrow.

"I was outside of Robin's house and there was an ambulance." Bruce pointed to the screen. "This man, Tom, I assume he was the one on the bloodied stretcher."

"Do you believe Robin had done it?"

"I don't know." Bruce admitted as he pushed himself out of his computer chair. "But all evidence is pointing to him."

Pennyworth grabbed Bruce's shoulder offhandedly and slowly released it. "I do not think it is wise to bother the young ward as he is sick." He suggested as he attained Bruce's attention.

"Ward?"

"He is, informally, your ward. Unless you would enjoy to be better known as a kidnapper?"

"Ward." Bruce repeated firmly and left the Bat Cave. He wandered around the manor aimlessly until he knew Alfred had found something to do. It felt silly to sneak around his own house, but the servant would have forbad Bruce to see the child.

He slipped on his cowl and entered the guestroom quietly. Shutting the door behind him, he made his way to the bed with the sleeping Robin. His lips couldn't help but curve into a smile when he saw the boy sleep peacefully, but it broke his heart when his eyes trailed to Robin's fingers that clutched desperately to the blanket.

Dick squeezed his eyes before slowly opening them. He felt the warmth of some type of wooly fabric, which he liked a lot. He tossed in the bed… _the bed?_

With his eyes wide open, he shot up from his position and his hands quickly clambered to his face. He was relieved when he felt the edges of his plastic domino mask, but another question quickly formed in his mind: where the hell was he?

He was fast to turn his head to the side and peer into Batman's glowing eyes. Before being able to distinguish who it was, he flustered and threw himself off the bed, landing uncomfortably.

"Are you okay?" Batman asked promptly.

"Where am I?" Robin questioned jumping straight up to his feet. He felt blood rush to his head from his stunt and he immediately fell forward, landing chest first awkwardly back onto the bed.

Batman gently helped the young bird into a sitting position. "It's okay, you're safe here."

"Thanks…" Robin sighed as he breathed heavily. "Where am I?"

"The manor of a friend of mine." Batman answered. "How are you feeling?"

"Hot." the bird replied with a smug look on his face.

Bruce would have smirked at the pun, but as Batman, he ignored it. "Can I ask you a few questions?"

Robin shifted nervously. "I guess so."

"When I found you, you were covered in blood, none of which was yours. Can you tell me anything about it?"

"I don't really remember."

"Do you know a man named Tom?"

At that name, Batman swore he saw the small boy flinch and shrink against the bed headboard.

Robin's fingers grasped at the bed sheets as he let out a subtle response. "Yes."

"Did you kill him?"

Dick felt his heart race violently, each heartbeat was painful against his chest. Memories flew back into his mind as his expression twisted with anxiety, and he immediately shouted, "it was an accident! I swear! I didn't know—I didn't mean to!"

"Robin, calm down." Batman stated as he softly held the black haired boy's little shoulder in his huge hand. As his hand bobbed up and down from Robin's settling breathes, he asked, "Can you tell me what happened?"

Robin kept his lips sealed. Telling the truth would also mean revealing Dick Grayson. He bit back and turned his head to the side in disappointment. He wanted to say, but he didn't want to either.

"I'm just trying to help you." Batman clarified, "I don't have to be your enemy. You can think of me as a friend."

Dick moved anxiously.

Bruce easily read Robin's gestures and told him, "You don't have to tell me right away, but you will have to eventually. Get some rest and we'll discuss this in the morning."

Robin nodded and slumped down in bed. He felt safe when the Dark Knight brought the wooly blanket over his tiny body, so he curled into the warmth. It was a feeling he never felt in a long time and a tired smile drew along mouth as he fell asleep soundly.

As Bruce exited the guest room, he was immediately faced with Alfred.

"You do realize the young ward only knows you as the Batman." Alfred reminded.

"I know."

"So, may I ask how long you will be wearing the Bat suit around the Wayne Manor, Master Bruce?"

"As long as it takes."

* * *

><p><strong>P.S: Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Wally and Dick's problem if you guys maybe wondering. I have it planned for later.<strong>


	6. OSLTWFTMISWAMBYTB

**A/N: Finished off Friends or What chapters since Friends or What Part 4 wouldn't have completely fit the chapter's contents anymore.**

* * *

><p>Fight, Live, Retaliate<p>

Chapter 6

Oh, So Like, Thanks Wally For Telling Me I'm Staying With A Multi-Billionaire. You're the Best

Subtle rays of light beamed through the thick curtains and onto Dick's face. He stirred as he slowly sat up, bringing his hands to his cheeks. When he felt the familiar plastic at the tips of his fingers, he relaxed knowing that Batman had not betrayed his trust.

He stretched happily while wiggling his toes. It was an unaccustomed feeling being so relaxed, but Dick liked it.

His stomach vibrated when it let out a growl, making Dick frown. He twisted his lip in thought deciding how he would be able to fish out some food. That was until he saw the door creak open.

Frantically, he plopped back down and brought the covers over his head.

He heard the figure approach him, then heard a sound of a metal clank against wood. His heart sped up. From under the wooly blanket, he saw an indentation and the blanket was gently lifted off.

"It would be quite difficult to breathe from under there." the old figure recommended.

Robin timidly sat up and turned his head as a shiny reflection caught his eye. A silver tray rested on the Maplewood nightstand with the pleasant scent of apple tracing around the pastry.

"The Batman had told me you had a liking to apples." Alfred spoke. "I suggest you eat up and regain your energy. The Batman will come to see you in a bit."

Robin nodded and picked up the apple turnover when who he assumed was a butler left the room. He took a nibble at its edge, and continued to take small bites, doing his best to savor the treat. The powdered sugar that coated the flaky bread melted instantly on his tongue, leaving a pleasant taste on his taste buds.

By the time he finally managed to reach the creamy apples inside the pastry, the door opened again and Batman stepped inside.

"I expected that you would have been done eating by now." Batman commented as he took a seat at the side of the bed. "I can't give you your medicine if you don't have something in your stomach."

Not wanting to give up the pastry immediately, Robin mumbled an apology and proceeded with his leisurely bites.

"It's good right?"

Robin nodded.

The Dark Knight gently wiped the excess powdered sugar from Dick's mouth with his thumb. "Alfred's a great cook, he can make anything. I can ask him to get you another one."

"Who's Alfred?" Robin asked as he swallowed an apple.

"You just met him this morning." Batman responded as he motioned to the silver tray. He handed Robin the pill and a glass of water as the teenager finished eating his breakfast. After the black haired boy took the medicine and set the cup on the nightstand, Batman began, "so about yesterday…"

Robin fidgeted a bit as he recalled last night's incident.

"Can you tell me what happened? Anything at all?"

Dick sighed to himself. _It's okay._ He urged his hands towards the plastic and pulled the mask off his face. "I didn't mean to k-kill him." He murmured with straying eyes.

"Dick Grayson?" Batman asked pretentiously.

"Yeah. " Dick gave a small, forced chuckle. "As you were asking, last night, my foster parent, Tom—," the child scrambled a bit. "—Okay, I woke up after taking a nap…

_Dick's tired eyes slowly pried themselves open as he stretched his achy spine._

"_It's finally awake." Tom mocked as he watched his "son" push himself from the dog bed. Tom strode to Dick and grabbed a fist full of his black strands and dragged him out of the fluff of cotton._

_The strong stench of what he assumed as Jack Daniels pranced tauntingly in his room as he felt his face connect to the coarse carpet fuzz._

"_What—d-did you do to get sent home?" Tom yelled as he pulled the boy's head backwards painfully._

"_Nothing!" Dick replied truthfully, but his temple was rammed into the floor once more. He futilely crawled away, but felt strong calloused hands wrap around the nape of his neck. He was pulled upwards and shoved against the wall with Tom's hands repositioning itself onto Dick's windpipe._

_Thick fingers squeezed his neck tightly and Dick could feel all the oxygen being cut from his lungs as he began to see black spots. He gasped when air refused to travel down his narrowing throat, and it felt worse when his feet couldn't feel the ground._

"He strangled you?" Batman asked behind clenched teeth.

Dick nodded. "But I don't think he should have died for it."

"You're correct. No one deserves to die." Batman admitted. "Continue."

"After he released my neck I fell and I told him…

"_I'm sorry!" Dick cried as he gagged on the air, unsure why he was apologizing._

"_Wasting my time…" Tom grumbled while he removed his belt and folded it in his hands. His shoe connected harshly with Dick's sternum with the excess momentum flipping the boy onto his back._

_Dick breathed deeply, his body feeling heavy each time he inhaled and exhaled. His blurry vision barely made out the strip of leather in Tom's hands._

_It was a quick movement when the leather came down on the child's tender chest. With the thin clothing barely protecting his frame, Dick gave out a sharp yelp when a fierce burn stroked his skin. His arms instinctively covered the throbbing area and then he felt his body turn over onto his stomach._

_Another strike was lashed along his back but he couldn't protect himself. He was completely vulnerable._

"He whipped you?" Batman hissed.

Dick ran his thumb over the edge of his plastic mask nervously lollygagging, "Well—…"

"Take off your shirt."

"Wait—what?" Dick spoke surprised.

"I mean, I just want to assess your injuries." He explained.

The little acrobat nodded embarrassedly. It was just an awkward moment with the Dark Knight, but he couldn't withhold his laughter.

Bruce eyed him strangely from behind his cowl. "Why are you laughing?"

"It's just weird," Dick snorted. "Take off your shirt!" He repeated with his attempt of a deep Batman-like voice.

Batman sighed, shaking his head.

The tiny teenager removed his red t-shirt and lifted his black hoodie. The two looked curiously at the Dick's neatly wrapped frame, but Bruce knew it was obviously the work of Alfred.

Dick didn't ask how his torso was bandaged, but he did wonder. He bobbed his head up and down when the Dark Knight asked if he could remove the cloth. He unintentionally pulled away when Batman's gloved fingers ran along one of the swelling cuts.

"Do they still hurt?"

"A little."

Bruce ran his fingers along the older scars. "How long had this happened?"

"I don't remember."

"Why didn't you report it?"

"I don't know." Dick replied calmly without much emotion except weak acceptance and defeated humor.

Bruce didn't know what else he could say. It broke his heart when he saw the various scars of different shapes, patterns, and thicknesses. The child's skin looked like a poorly patched rag-doll. He even noticed how Dick's skin seemed to cling to his bones. The contours of his ribcage were almost completely visible.

He inhaled deeply. "I'll get Alfred to change your bandages."

Dick's lip twisted unhappily and he immediately grabbed Batman's cape. "Can you stay?" He asked out of loneliness.

"Not right now, but I'll come back. We'll continue this discussion later." Bruce responded as he quickly left the guestroom. He felt a teardrop escape his eye as he quickly brushed it away. He made his way downstairs and found Alfred sitting in a study reading a book.

"Good day Master Bruce." Alfred greeted as he closed the book and placed it on the table.

"Alfred, I need you to change Dick's bandages."

"I see you two are on first name basis."

"No." Bruce clarified as he pulled the cowl off his head. "He doesn't know I'm Bruce Wayne, but he told me he was Dick Grayson."

"The famous acrobat from Haly's Circus?"

"Yeah." Bruce responded. "I need to go do something urgent. I'll be back within an hour."

Alfred nodded. "Then I will tend to the young ward's injuries and see you in an hour Master Bruce." He replied as he waited for Bruce to depart before departing himself.

_** na na na na na na na na na na na na nananana-BATMAN! (Page Break)**_

Dick watched the door open again as he sat upright in the soft bed.

"Good day young Master Robin." Alfred greeted as he held a first aid kit in his hands.

"Young master?" Dick questioned.

"It's a… form of title." Alfred tried to clarify as he took a seat on the side of the bed. "Do your wounds still hurt Master Robin?"

"Batman probably already told you who I am, so you don't have to call me Robin anymore." Dick insisted. "And you can drop the 'master'."

"I'm afraid I will not Master Richard."

Dick just smirked. He was at ease at how gentle Alfred had been when rewrapping the bandages. When he figured the butler was satisfied, he asked, "do you think I can go to school today?"

"I suggest you should rest up."

"But there's someone I want to see." Dick contended.

Alfred gave some thought and glanced at the wall clock. "In half an hour, when all the students are released, I will drive you to your school and you may find your friend."

"Thanks Alfred!" Dick smiled.

"But we cannot stay for too long. Twenty minutes at most."

The time went by smoothly and Dick speedily threw himself out of bed. As agreed, Alfred had drove him to his school where he dashed out of the car and ran through the doors. The bell had just rung and Dick was slipped through the mob of students who were eager to go home for the weekend.

Dick caught the familiar face and extended his hand to grab the arm.

"Dick?" Wally asked with a slight sense of disappointment.

"Hey Wally." Dick breathed rapidly.

"Where have you been? You weren't at school."

"It's a long story." the shorter boy responded with an apathetic smile. "Say, do you wanna' hang out today?"

Wally chuckled. "You know I can't."

"It was worth a try." Dick replied with a sly shrug.

The two friends fell back into their basic routine as they walked down the pavement in their usual paths. Dick had almost forgotten that he wasn't staying with Tom until he heard Alfred's voice from afar.

"Master Richard!"

The two boys turned around and Wally asked. "Is he calling for you?"

"Oh yeah." Dick remembered and lied effortlessly. "I'm staying with a relative of mine for the weekend."

"Whoa—ho-ho," Wally exclaimed.

"What?"

"I just didn't expect you to be related to the billionaire Bruce Wayne."

"Billionaire? Bruce Wayne?" Dick shouted.

"Well, yeah. That's his personal butler, Alfred." Wally pointed out. "He's very classy. Everyone's ought to know him. Even I know him. He's like an amazing cook. I remember Uncle Barry and I were invited over to the Wayne Manor once. All I remember is that his cooking is like—"

Dick had tuned out half of Wally's speech. _I'm staying with Bruce Wayne?_ He was still star struck. Everyone had heard of the billionaire, including Dick himself, but he would have never imagined to actually even step foot in the house.

"Hey," Wally called out and gave Dick a good thwack behind the head.

"Oh, hey! What was that for?"

"You were spacing out." Wally frowned. "But anyway, I have to go. I'll see you soon."

"Bye Wally." Dick waved as he walked back to Alfred.

"I see you know young Master Wallace." Alfred acknowledged as he held the door open for Dick.

"I see you know young Master Wallace as well." Dick mimicked, unaccustomed to such formal language. He let out a burst of laughter as he realized his pathetic attempt at mimicking the butler.

"Indeed I do." Alfred chuckled.

Alfred started the car and they began their bumpy ride back to the manor. The first few minutes of the ride was somewhat quiet and mutual, until Dick decided to break the silence.

"Hey Alfred, what do you know about Bruce? Do you think I'll ever meet him? Do you think he'll like me?"

Alfred was surprised. "He's a very busy businessman. I am not too sure if he will arrive at the manor anytime soon, but I am sure he will take a liking to you Master Richard. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know." Dick shrugged playfully. "When Wally told me that I was at the Wayne Manor, I just got excited. I never met rich people before."

"You'd be surprised who you meet." Alfred hinted as he drove up into the driveway. "You met the Batman after all."

Dick nodded as he steadily took in Alfred's words. _He does have a point._ Alfred unlocked the door and Dick stepped inside. He trotted around mansion, taking in the fine aspects and details of the house. It was only until he popped his head in one of the studies and found a man with a large built sitting at the desk.

"Hello there." The man greeted friendly in a low voice.

Dick nervously popped his head out of the doorway and was quickly met with Alfred's body.

"Good evening Master Bruce, may I get you anything?" Alfred recommended.

"Just some coffee, thanks Alfred."

"You are very welcome sir." He responded.

Dick fretfully tugged on Alfred's black dress pants before the butler could leave. Alfred bent over and Dick childishly cupped his hands around the sophisticated man's ear and whispered, "where's Batman?"

"The Batman may be busy right now. Why don't you talk to Bruce Wayne and get to know him better? I'll be sure to bring you an apple puff pastry when I return."

Dick took a deep breath as he stood outside the study. He pressed one foot into the room. _Alright Dick. You can do this._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: You know how best friends are. It's pretty hard to straight up and say, "aye, dude, look sorry." Instead, you go out and buy them some McDonalds, call it even, and return to your normal what-best-friends-do routine. Well, at least that's what I do LOLOLOL.**


	7. Overlooking Trust

**A/N: Thanks to those who faved and alerted, but also thanks to those who took the time to review the story! It's almost that time of the year again FF'ers! So I hope everyone has a good month.**

**P.S: I'm now using this: "NANANANANANANA BATMAN!" ****or something similar as a page break**** because sometimes when I put the page break in the wrong places, I have to go through an annoying process to get rid of them since my laptop is an idiot.**

Fight, Live, Retaliate

Chapter 7

Overlooking Trust

Dick anxiously took a little step inside the study. There were many leather covered books sitting on the shelves, each of them intimidated him with its high standards. He began to worry that he wouldn't be able to reach Bruce's standards. _Should I act like Alfred? No, your impressions are terrible!_

He unconsciously paced back and forth in the center of the room with his mop of hair covering his eyes as he stared at the rug.

Bruce took a peak up from his set of papers. He was confused why the thirteen year old boy was walking trudging along his flooring, but decided not to bother him about it. It was until the teenager unintentionally walked right into a bookshelf did Bruce speak up. "Are you okay?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah…" Dick muttered as he rubbed his forehead.

"Here, sit." Bruce offered.

Dick timidly took a seat in front of Bruce's desk and began to occupy himself by spinning the globe in front of him.

"Uh, so Dick." Bruce began nervously, unsure how he would approach the situation. "Batman told me about you, and what happened to your caretaker."

"Oh…" Dick muttered.

"I looked into your dilemma, with… what happened to your biological parents, and I'm sorry."

Dick sighed heavily, making no eye contact. "It's fine. It—it doesn't bother me anymore."

Bruce stared sadly at the child who wouldn't even turn his head. _Dammit Bruce, stop being so depressing!_ He tried another subject. "How do you like it here?" He asked awkwardly.

"It's nice." Dick replied, unsure of what he was supposed to say. He was just playing footsy with himself but he glanced up as he heard Alfred clear his throat.

Alfred, with his tray, walked over to the desk and placed a cup of coffee in front of Bruce and like he promised, an apple puff pastry in front of Dick. "How are you two getting acquainted?"

"I'm not sure Alfred," Bruce admitted playfully, "I don't think he wants to see me right now."

Dick shrunk back in his seat.

"Then may I suggest that Master Richard help me with preparing dinner?"

"How does that sound?" Bruce asked the little teenager.

Dick nodded willingly and tensely picked up his plate of pastries. He then quickly followed Alfred out of the room as if he was his mother goose.

As they walked through the hallways, Alfred queried, "So Master Richard, what do you think of Master Bruce?"

"He's big…" Dick responded honestly as he looked at his puff pastries, "and scary."

"How about the Batman? Do you think he's big and scary too?"

Dick trailed Alfred into the kitchen. "Nope."

"Why not?"

"I don't know." He replied as he placed his plate on the counter. "He only looks that way, but Batman is different, Alfred. He's nice."

"Maybe Master Bruce will be the same way if you get to know him better." The butler suggested as he handed Dick a spoon. "May you stir that pot?"

The young acrobat stood on a short stool and removed the lid from the pot. Steam brushed against the little hairs on his face along with a heavenly scent. He stuck the wooden spoon inside the soup and began to stir evenly. "Maybe…" Dick thought, twisting his lip doubtfully. "What if he doesn't' like—what's in this soup Alfred?" The black haired boy asked surprisingly when he couldn't help but take a sip from the spoon.

"Just chicken bones and carrots." Alfred spoke with a raised eyebrow. "It's a simple chicken stock."

Dick was mesmerized. Wally was right. Only a god could make a few household ingredients into a celestial paradise.

"What was it you were saying?" the butler asked, encouraging the young teenager to finish his thought.

"Oh, what if he doesn't like me?" Dick muttered as he placed he placed the lid on top of the pot.

"What makes you think that?"

The acrobat hopped off the stool handing Alfred the spoon. "It's just that…" Dick inhaled painfully as he began to pull out some of his worst memories. "I'm just no good."

"Master Richard, you are plenty good in your own way. Do not think any less of yourself." Alfred stated as he handed Dick a set of plates.

Dick frowned in thought as he realized that he was unable to list his "good" traits. He pulled himself towards the table, but unfortunately slipped on the tile flooring. The white dishes came crashing down onto the floor and Dick's face sunk in horror. The teenager immediately swooped down and began to pick up his mess, mindlessly pricking and cutting his hands.

"I'm sorry!" He screamed as he cleaned and kept his gaze averted.

"Master Richard, you are bleeding!" the butler observed as he dropped down to Dick's level. He instantaneously grabbed Dick's hand quickly and brushed off the glass.

Dick's eyes were teary. After Alfred had removed any bits of glass from his palm, he drew back his hand and hugged it close to his chest. He brought his knees close to him as he laid on the floor in his "defensive" position. He was waiting for something to happen next. Something _painful_ that was supposed to teach him to know better or be more careful.

He just waited for it, but nothing happened.

"Alfred, can you get a broom?"

In a curled up form, Dick heard the question in the familiar low voice. He knew those vibrating tones, so he slowly brought his head away from his body and murmured, "Batman?" When his eyes made out the built contours, his lips drooped when he saw Bruce Wayne. He retreated his temple back into the comforts of himself and in a muffled voice, he threw up more apologies.

Bruce knelt to the Dick's balled frame and ran his palm along Dick's spine. "Hey," he whispered, "it's okay, it was an accident. Let's get you cleaned up alright?"

The soft words were comforting to Dick's mind, but something in his heart just seemed to tell himself to pull away. Dick unwrapped himself and shook his head furiously. He wanted to clean up his mess. As he reached out to grab another fragment of glass, Bruce gently pushed his hand away.

"Don't worry about that, let's get you cleaned up first." the billionaire insisted.

Bruce sighed when Dick shook his head once more and began to frantically pick up the scattered pieces of glass. Bruce never had a child, he never babysat, he was never around children, so he didn't know what to do. Instead of trying to reassure Dick verbally, he began to pick up the fragments as well.

As all the visible pieces were picked off the floor, the two tossed the glass in the trash at the same time Alfred entered the room.

"Oh my." He scowled when he saw both his boys with multiple cuts on their hands.

** NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA BATMAN!**

Alfred had sent his boys to wash up while he was sweeping the smaller scraps of glass and prepared dinner.

"You need to let me disinfect it." Bruce explained, holding a soaked cotton ball.

Dick shook his head, holding his hands behind his back. The first time Bruce rubbed the cotton over the cuts made the tiny cuts burn more. He backed up into the corners of the bathroom walls not wanting to feel any more pain. "You can't do this to me!" He wailed, "I cleaned up the mess!"

"I'm just trying to help, I don't want it to get infected."

"You're just a liar!"

Bruce pinched the bridged of his nose and sighed. Tossing the cotton ball away, he pulled out some bandages from a little red box instead. "Can you at least let me put on some Band-Aids?"

The brown strips were more familiar to Dick, so he nodded in approval and shyly offered Bruce his hands. What took place in minutes felt like hours to Dick. He was so sure that Bruce would have squeezed his fingers at any second just to watch him squirm. But after the billionaire finished covering the cuts, he lightly put his hand down.

Bruce opened the door. "Let's go, Alfred's waiting for us at the dinner table."

Dick's head bobbed up and down and he hastily waddled out the bathroom. With nearly half the manor already memorized, he was able to locate the dining room fairly easily. He spotted Alfred and jolted for his mother goose. With outreached arms, he instantly hugged one of the butler's thin legs.

Bruce smiled sympathetically at Alfred as he entered the dining room, taking a seat. He was having more trouble bonding than he would have thought. Alfred had done it rather effortlessly, but then again, that man could do anything, even in his sleep.

"Why don't you take a seat Master Richard?" Alfred asked as he nudged the boy from his leg.

Dick shook his head, looking up sadly when he noticed there were only two plates.

Bruce cleared his throat, "why don't you join us Alfred?"

Alfred rose his eyebrow at the detective, but when he saw the hope in Dick's eyes, he understood the signal. "I assume I do have some free time to spare." He fabricated, leaving the room and returning with a third plate. He sat across from Bruce and began to fill his plate with a portion of ham and steamed vegetables.

Dick's plate was set right next to Bruce, but the young acrobat had no intentions of sitting _there._ He toddled next to Bruce and pushed his plate across the table so that it was set next to Alfred. He swiftly made his way around the furniture and took his new seat.

Dinner went by quietly and night crept up. For the next few hours Dick shuffled behind Alfred as the butler was doing his duties. Alfred knew he wouldn't be able to get much work done if he was keeping an eye on the boy, so he sent the child off to find a Swiffer mop knowing that one did not exist in the manor.

Alfred knew exactly where Bruce was at this time of the day. He worked his way to the old grandfather clock and manually turned the hands to read the time 10:47* A hidden passage was opened up to him and he entered the room.

"Master Bruce," he called out.

"Alfred?" Bruce's voice echoed through the cave.

"It seems that I cannot get much work done around the manor, may I ask a favor of you?"

**BATMAN! BATMAN~~ BATMAN! NANANANNANANANANANA BATMAN!**

Dick was still scurrying around trying to find the Swiffer mop. He remembered that Alfred said it was in one of the closets, but due to his old age, he couldn't remember which. But it was alright, it gave Dick another chance to explore the other half of the manor.

As he closed another closet door, he turned around and his eyes lit up. "Batman!" He smiled.

Batman kept his expressionless mask plastered to his face. "Hello Dick." He spoke lowly.

"What are you doing here?"

"Alfred told me to find you. He already found the Swiffer mop." Bruce lied.

Dick caught a set of black, yellow, and red that Batman threw at him. He began to separate the articles of clothing and asked, "what is this?" as he brushed his thumb against the yellow "R."

Batman handed Dick a new domino mask. "Robin, I have something to discuss with you."

***10:47 – I'm sure you guys know, to access the Bat Cave through the Wayne Manor, you go to the grandfather clock and turn the clock's hands to the exact time that Bruce's parents died. I used the time 10:47 because that's what it says in The Essential Batman Encyclopedia book, but for those who read Batman and Robin issue 14, you will notice that Alfred turns the clock to 9:47. But either way the hidden passage is opened.**


	8. New Friends and New Foes

**A/N: Where have I been? Where have 258494 been? SATs, Finals, Was out of school for a week [sick] and fell behind on so much homework that I believe I'm still holding onto the thread of a D+ _... Internet died :C, After internet was alive, laptop died :c… Oh the series of unfortunate events.**

**ANYWHO, SORRY FOR THE EXTREMELY LONG WAIT! ONWARDS, CHAPTAHHH EIGHT~**

**P.S: This chapter contains a shameless Robin-whumpage scene, cause it's what I do.**

**P.S 2: Updates may become slow due to grades. –points to the D+-**

Fight, Live, Retaliate

Chapter 8

New Friends and New Foes

"Dude, this feels, awesome!" Robin shouted as he zip lined through the streets. Being an acrobat, the movements came naturally to him and the use of a grappler was no fret to him either. Even Batman was having trouble keeping up with the energetic bird who's grappler was constantly hooking onto new ledges.

The new clothing and a lighter domino mask gave Dick a kick. He loved how the outfit fit into the contours of his body, and the black and yellow cape, he simply adored how it flew behind him.

Batman sighed at his decision of grappling to their destination. It took him 20 minutes to get the little bird to calm down and follow his lead. They zip lined to the church and they zoomed up to one of the stone gargoyles.

"So what are we doing here?" Robin asked as he found a spot to sit.

"I'm fixing one of the security monitors."

"In the gargoyle?"

"Precisely."

Robin began swinging his feet as they were suspended in the air. He took a deep breath and took in the scenery around him, before quickly falling prey to boredom. He sprung back up to his feet and stuck his head into Batman's work. With a thin gloved finger, he pointed at a wire. "It short circuited. Whoever installed it did it wrong."

"Thank you Robin." Batman stated and began to fix the error, feeling out-wised. He and Robin sat back down and rested their backs against the slanted roof.

Batman broke the silence by asking, "how do you feel about staying with Bruce?"

Robin's pursed his lip in thought and responded skeptically. "I know he's a nice man, but I feel like I'm a burden."

"I talked to him earlier. He thinks you're a nice kid and really wants you to stay with him at his manor."

"I doubt that." Dick began to answer honestly. "Tom barely—didn't want me, yet I got stuck with him."

"Tom didn't deserve you." Batman spat out as he sat up, turning his head to the child to let him know he meant it. "Dick, you deserve more than what he ever gave you."

"Oh geez." Robin muttered, suddenly troubled. "Tom's dead, I'm supposedly missing. What are we going to do?"

"Well," Batman began, "Bruce had always been looking for a ward. Since he found a liking with you, it will be easy to convince him to adopt you. You'll just have to say yes."

"Really?"

"Really."

Robin lit up and nearly stumbled from the rooftop if it weren't for Bruce's quick reflexes reeling the tiny acrobat into his arms.

"Thanks." Robin breathed with a smile. He fixed his composure and leapt off the building, using the grappler smoothly.

"Where are you going?" Batman shouted as he forced himself to trail behind.

"Back to the manor! I gotta' find Bruce!"

**NANANANANANANANNANANANANNA… ROBIN!**

"Alfred!" Robin's voice echoed throughout the manor as he flew through the door.

"Yes Robin?"

"Where's Bruce? I want to talk to him." Dick explained as he pulled off his domino mask, nervously but eagerly.

"He left an hour ago on another urgent business trip young master." Alfred replied smoothly as he climbed the staircase.

"But he was here earlier. He couldn't have left that quickly." the acrobat pushed the topic as he saw Batman creep up from behind. "Looks like Bruce left Batman." He continued disappointedly. His shoulders drooped as he felt as if he lost his chance to make amends with the billionaire.

"He'll be here tomorrow." the Caped Crusader replied as he fished out a small yellow device that began to beep repeatedly.

"Batman, we're going to need your help." A voice instantly manifested from the communicator.

Robin slipped his mask against his face and couldn't help but to sneak a peek at the little piece of technology. Gadgets and other devices had always been one of his favorite toys since he was a child, making the unfamiliar communicator no exception.

"What's this Bats?" Robin asked nonchalantly as he poked his head into view and spotted the Flash in the screen.

"Batman, who's this?"

"This is Robin." Batman introduced reluctantly.

"The thief?"

"I'm not a thief!" the little bird yelled back with a pout.

"How—"

"Can we talk about this later? What did you need me for?" Batman scowled.

"Bane's out and we're going to need all the help we can get."

"Why can't you handle it?"

"Because Joker's out here too."

Robin recognized the name. Joker. Batman's arch enemy and a man of sick, dark-humored crimes. He perked up when the larger man instinctively agreed to meet the Justice League and a group called Young Justice out by the harbor. As Batman spun around, Dick caught the edges of his cape. "Let me come too."

"No, it's too dangerous. You're staying here, with Alfred."

"Fine." Robin smirked. "But just so you know, when you leave, I'll be right behind you."

Bruce let out a low growl, frustrated that he was unable to tame the boy. He stalked out into the night and grappled his way through the city, swinging fiercely as he reminded himself who was out there. Robin had no trouble keeping up despite how his attention was partially admiring the yellow streaks in the sky behind him from his new cape.

His blood was rushing and his momentum was building. He felt excited, yet a bit afraid, but this mission was going to be a change from what people thought he done. It would be a good chance to show people who he really was.

They landed right at the harbor where Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash stood. Not too far away from this trio, Robin spotted the group he assumed to be Young Justice, a team of sidekicks. He casually strolled over and with a wide grin on his face, and greeted them.

"Hey guys, what's rockin'?" Robin asked with a gesture.

"Aren't you that apple thief?" Superboy bawled as he unintentionally pushed his way through his team mates.

"Look, that was before—," Robin cut himself off as he noted that Superboy had no real thoughts into what he had to say. He turned his head sheepishly. "Look, I'm just here to help."

"We have this situation controlled."

"Not from what I heard." Robin retorted.

"Robin," M'gann spoke sweetly. "I know you want to help, but it's best if you let the team work this one. Maybe you can help us another time."

"Or never." Connor growled.

Robin eyed the rest of the group, knowing they had nonverbally agreed to M'gann's and the rude-mouth's words. He backed away and quickly ran back to Batman feeling suddenly heavy.

"Batman," Robin whispered. "I think I'm going to go back instead."

"Actually…" Superman began. "we had a part for you in this mission, seeing that you already came out here. We could really use your assistance."

"Really?" Dick immediately beamed happily.

Batman wiped his face with his gloved hands, uncomfortable with the idea. "The Joker and Bane are in the warehouse, but it's locked with a code from the inside. We need someone to be able to crawl through the air vent and hack into their system, but none of us can fit through the vents."

Robin nodded excitedly at the instructions as the members of the Justice League began to explain to him their plans and tactics. He was in awe when Batman began to show him a holographic computer installed into the base of his left glove and quickly learned how to use a simple bypass software.

"Why don't you guys just blast the door?" Robin asked as Batman continued to fiddle with the devices.

"The door may seem thick, but it's hollow. It's wired with fear gas bombs inside destined to detonate by turning the knob." He responded efficiently and called the young sidekicks over. Dick was the first to catch Connor's stink-face when Superboy gave a cold glare to the little bird, he was tempted to make one back, but felt better to keep his poise.

"I'm sure you guys already met Robin." Superman spoke as he nudged lightly at the acrobat. "He'll be helping us today."

"But he's a thief!" Connor blurted as he gripped steadfast to old perceptions.

"People change." Superman commented, which Superboy surprisingly nodded to in deep thought.

After another breakdown of strategy, the teams were ready to take action. Robin gave Batman a reassuring look of confidence as Kent flew him up to the warehouse's ceiling ventilation system.

"You'll need one of these." he suggested as he handed him his communicator. "Volume adjustment is on the right."

Robin smiled a thanks and tucked it into one of the many pockets. He wriggled his way through the air vents and snuck quickly, but quietly, pushing his way against walls of cold steel.

He heard the distorted sadistic laugh from the Joker echo through the vents and he knew he was close. A quiet beep emitted from the communicator so he uncomfortably shifted himself to get his hold around it. He pulled it out and flipped the lid in front of his face.

"Robin, are you okay?" Batman asked as his face appeared on the screen.

"I'm fine, it's only been a few minutes." Robin replied. "I'm close to where the Joker's at though, but there' isn't a view. I could just hear his voice."

"Get to the west wing of the warehouse was quickly as you can. Be careful."

"I will."

Robin flicked the lid back onto the communicator and tucked it back into one of his pockets. After crawling through the direction he felt was west, he found an openings of the ventilation system. He peered down the window and saw the white-faced clown hiss at a bulky man who looked like he could have been on steroids. He was only able to hear the malicious laughs from the Joker whenever the villain let out a hysteric howl.

He slithered his belly along the vents and crawled over the opening. Despite his fairly scrawny figure, he had managed to exert enough pressure onto the vent's window and caused the window to drop open. His gloved hands provided enough grip to grasp onto the smooth surface of the vent, but nothing was able to silence the metallic clank of the vent's window dropping to the ground.

Robin skillfully leapt back inside the vent and recklessly crawled a few feet from the ledge.

"Looks like we have a rat!" an indescribable voice shrieked.

"Find him!" Another growled, which he assumed to be Bane.

"Batman!" Robin panicked as he opened his com, "They know I'm here. I think Bane brought along some of his henchmen."

"It's alright Robin, remain calm. How far away are you from the west wing?"

Robin crawled a few more feet until he reached the end of the ventilation system. Looking down into the window, he found the computer-lock against the door of the warehouse. "I found it." The little bird replied, slowly regaining his confidence. He shut the device and unlatched the vent's window.

He carefully undid the latch and slid the window off. After scanning the perimeter, he carefully leapt out of the vent and grappled his way safely to the ground.

Cursing when the grappler made more noise than the boy predicted, he darted behind an adjacent storage box.

"The sound's coming from over there!"

The echoing of footsteps tapping against concrete was more than enough to get Robin's adrenaline pumping. He patted against his utility belt, fingering at the materials and contents inside. It wasn't long until he recognized the smokescreen pellets and withdrew them from his belt.

"What do we have here—e?"

Robin knew that voice. Every sane person in Gotham City would have recognized that voice. He bounced back as he felt himself collide with the notorious Joker.

He felt a sickening crack in his jaw as the clown whipped his face with the unforgiving crowbar. The sudden impact flung his body to the ground. The Joker seized the opportunity and rushed to grasp at the teenager's windpipe, cutting off Robin's air supply at a rapid rate.

"Never seen you 'round these parts before." Joker clicked, "Tell me, have we ever met?"

Robin was unable to reply as he instinctively reached for the villain's white wrists.

"How rude of me!" Joker giggled with his cracking voice. He released his boney fingers from the little bird.

After meeting the floor, Dick brought himself onto all fours as he began to gasp for air that he was deprived from for too long. _What have I gotten myself into?_ As he began to suck in another breath of air, he felt a kick jab at his rib and he doubled over onto his back.

The green haired psychopath nudged Robin onto his stomach with his foot, pressing the base of his heel against the boy's head. "You have no idea what I have in store for you, 'should have just ran off when you had the chance." The clown finished with a rough kick to Robin's temple. "Take him away!"

Two of Bane's hoppers* came and gave a harsh tug to Robin's arms, pulling him onto his feet, which was the support the acrobat needed. He threw the smoke pellet onto the ground and swiftly made his way through the smoked area. In a clearing, he grappled his way onto one of the support beams and perched stealthy on top of the balance.

He quietly made his way back to the west wing, and smoothly landed in front of the computer lock. Like how Batman had shown him, he wired the glove to the lock and booted his glove's monitors. The device quickly ran through millions of combinations as Robin impatiently mumbled to himself. "Come on, come on…"

He anxiously stared at the process's percentage as it came closer and closer to 100%. A shadow gloomed over him, consuming his body in a shade. As he turned around, a massive fist landed against his already cracking ribcage.

He spat a few drops of blood and clenched his teeth as an unbearable pain began to wash over him. _Two broken ribs._ He looked at his glove.

99%

COMBINATIONS TRIED

2118759 OF 2118760

_It's ALWAYS the last one!_ Robin glanced back up, watching the monstrous Bane take slow steps towards him. He extracted the last combination and calculated his next attack.

It became obvious that he had no other option at the point. He was going to have to take a hit.

As Bane gotten into Robin's range, the acrobat ducked as another fist came for his head. He darted towards the computer lock and with nimble fingers, he typed in the last key.

The computer flashed green and the locks clicked open. As he swung the door open, Bane tackled the fragile bird with enough force that he flung onto the other side of the wall. The scenery brushed past him quickly and the collision was another explosion of pain. He watched as the League began to quickly withhold Bane and his henchmen, but he also saw as the Joker ran off from the back door.

He bit past the agony and with a heavy exhale, he reached into his utility belt and fished out another gadget. _Awesome! Batarangs! Oh god my side hurts…_

Robin launched a couple of the projectiles which was enough to get the Joker to turn around. Almost instinctively, he reeled himself with the grappler and swung down, foot crushing mouth.

"Brat!" The clown shrieked as his blood drizzled down his lip.

"Just—arh…returning the favor." Robin barely retorted behind clenched teeth. He gagged and spat a few ounces of blood and spit. The endorphins in his body had begun to withdraw, and he could feel the throbbing in his torso. Two broken ribs had become four.

He fell to his knees and began to wheeze, dropping one hand to the ground for support. Dick drooped his head as his eyes began to grow wide, he could barely breathe and he was choking on his own blood.

As he looked forward again, he found Batman throwing fist after fist and foot after foot in a messy fashion at the Joker. It was uncoordinated, anyone could see that. It became unnatural how the Dark Knight moved. It was as if he was ready to _kill_ the Joker this time.

"Here, I'll help you up."

Robin looked up and nodded weakly as Kid Flash swung the little bird's arm over his shoulder. Robin groaned and the feeling of his ribs being stretched as he hunched over, trying to find a more comfortable position to walk.

"Bane?" Dick choked out, too tired to scan the room for the villain.

"We got him and his henchmen." Wally whispered soothingly.

"Bats?"

Wally looked up and replied. "He's fine, looks like the Joker got away though."

"That's good." Robin smiled. "The 'he's fine,' not the—"

"I know what you're trying to say." the teenager replied worriedly. "Don't talk too much, you really too a number back there. Trying to catch the Joker? That's pretty brave. He's a psychopath, I wouldn't even try to run up to that clown by myself. I wonder what he thinks about in that messed up mind of his. If I were the Joker, I would think of waffles. Hey, Robin? Robin!"

* * *

><p>*Hoppers – Reference from DCUO [DC Universe Online]. Name for one of Bane's henchmen.<p> 


	9. Who Are You?

**A/N: Gosh guys! Thanks for the reviews and for still following with me even after such a long absence c: makes a writer happy. Also, remember to keep in mind that Connor isn't as developed as other humans, he's still learning ^^"  
><strong>

**-monkimax, I'm going to incorporate certain levels of bromance which you may interpret to any kind of crazy fandom you'd like xD, but in all cleanliness, [despite the fact that I approve of all shipments] this story will have no direct slash.**

Fight, Live, Retaliate

Chapter 9

Who Are You?

The Young Justice team waited impatiently and worried, with the exception of an indecisive Superboy who was still trying to figure out what kind of person Robin really was. He casually took a seat on the couch next to M'gann who had her wrists in her lap and a deep frown cast on her lips. He couldn't understand how the team could have taken pity for a petty thief, but Superman had told him that people could change. How is that possible though?

Maybe it was just a concept clones couldn't grasp, but looking at how depressed the team was made pushed his spirits a little lower as well. When one of them were hurt, everyone was hurt, but each person just had a different way of dealing with the hurt.

Possibly, like how each person copes differently proves that everyone is different, it proves that people can change. Does it though?

Superboy glanced at Kid Flash who sat in a relaxed posture on the ground but his expression was tense. He could hear the amount of pressure the speedster was pushing with his finger against the remote control, flipping through each channel un-observantly.

"I can't believe he took that shot." Artemis spoke, breaking the discomforting silence that had taken the atmosphere. "Anyone with common sense wouldn't have just leapt at the clown like that!"

Kid Flash slammed the remote against the rug and weighed it down with his palm. "He does have common sense, and a lot more courage than any of us here."

"He's more rash than you." Artemis yelled. "From what I heard, he still may just be a criminal. He's threatened people."

Wally let out an impatient huff, "for the last time he's threatened a man for TWO dollars and we've only seen him steal a couple of apples in the past. At most, three, and it wasn't even three from the same stall! He obviously doesn't want to try and hurt anyone or anyone's business."

"Why are you suddenly being so defensive Wally?" the archer narrowed.

Wally slumped reluctantly. "I don't know. I just seriously think—arghh, he seems so familiar!"

"Maybe you just seen him somewhere unconsciously." Kadlur suggested.

"It's not the, 'hey-I-think-I've-seen-you-somewhere-familiar,'" Wally clarified, "it's the 'hey-I-know-you kind of familiar."'

"Like seeing an old friend?"

"Yeah, like that."

"Who is Robin? Night time thief or another one of our crime fighting vigilantes?" the interviewer on the television set broadcasted as a picture of the little bird appeared on the screen.

"Another one of these segments again…" Wally mumbled.

Superboy perked up and took the opportunity to ask, "who do you guys think Robin is?"

"I used to think he was just a shameless thief," Kid Flash admitted, "but I've completely changed my mind as from today."

"He's a nice boy Connor," M'gann added placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "He's just trying to find a place in the world."

"If we ask Batman, maybe we can find a place for Robin in the world," Kadlur added. "in Young Justice."

"New member?" Wally grinned, "I totally second that! Ever since Roy went off to do his own gig, I can't seem to find anyone to talk to."

"I think he left to get away from you." Artemis joked, giving Wally an elbow to his bicep.

"You believe people can change?" Superboy asked.

"People can change." Wally replied most defiantly. "It's a unique part of human nature… and clones! You've changed a lot from when we first met you Superboy."

M'gann giggled, "it's true Connor, and change isn't always a bad thing. Like when seeds bloom into flowers. It's a beautiful change." The Martian explained, while providing a mental picture in the clone's head for assistance.

Superboy looked into the mental picture emptily, but the small smile that came upon Miss Martian softened his judgment.

The sound of the Dark Knight's distinctive cape fluttering caused the Young Justice team to turn around. As he approached the team, he could see that their concerned glances were all asking the same question.

"How is he?" Kadlur asked for the team as he walked up to Batman.

"He'll be fine, but he'll need some rest." Batman explained with a sleeping Robin in his arms. Artemis cleared the couch so that the Bat could lay the little bird on the piece of furniture. Bruce had remembered reading Dick's adoption paper carefully and that a hospital environment made Dick weary and panicky. "He has four broken ribs, but they're healing fast. One of them punctured his lung, but everything is fine now. All he needs is rest. Now, I have to leave for a few days. Robin is to stay at Mount Justice, if anything happens, you should call Black Canary or Superman understood?"

"We understand." Kadlur nodded. "But shouldn't Robin stay in the hospital wing?"

"No." Batman quickly replied, speaking as he began to leave. "When he wakes up, show him to his room. It's next to Kid Flash's. I left him a note for him there."

"Oookay," Wally interrupted, "that, was weird. How long do you think he'll be sleeping?"

"Could be hours." M'gann answered. "Let's try to keep it as quiet as we can."

The team agreed though the quietness didn't last for long when Artemis changed the channel from My Little Pony to Captain America: The First Avenger. With inhuman speed, Wally snatched the remote from Artemis's side and flipped the channel back to watch his magical ponies and friendship.

Artemis gave a sharp glare and snatched the remote back to watch Captain America.

Their mute expression escalated to harsh whispers which climbed to Kid Flash's yelling incoherently.

"I was watching that!" Kid Flash yelled as he changed the channel back.

"We watch that EVERYDAY! Can't we watch something else for a change?"

"Sorry for wanting to watch a show that teaches the miracles and wonders of harnessing a beautiful relationship among friends!"

Artemis rolled her eyes and the two continued to wrestle for the remote.

"Quiet down." Superboy demanded, "I hear something faint."

As the two lowered their volumes, soon enough, everyone was able to hear the disjointed murmurs and whimpers emitting from Robin's throat. The team curiously circled around the couch and watched as Robin furrowed his brow in fear and pain, a few sweat drops beading down his face. His neck snapped to the side and his jaws locked tightly.

The team exchanged worried glances before taking in the sight before the little bird.

"Looks like he's having a bad dream." Artemis commented.

"Bad dream? More like a full-on nightmare." Wally added as he lightly placed a hand on Robin's shoulder whispering, "Robin? Can you hear me? It'd be real cool if you can wake up now."

The team flinched back as Robin gave out an unsuspected scream before twisting himself against the couch.

"He's going to hurt himself." Kadlur pointed out. "M'gann, do you think you can wake him up?"

"I can try." She agreed as she closed her eyes and focused into the acrobat's mind.

As she slipped into Robin's unconsciousness, she was hesitant as she mentally entered his uncharted dreams. Her toes skimmed the damp carpet as she hovered around an empty room with water molded walls. Looking at the dampness of the carpet, she hovered higher when she realized the carpet was stained red.

"Robin?" She called out, searching the empty room. She frowned as she saw an abandoned dog bed, mangled enough to be deemed unusable. The sight was heart wrenching and she unconsciously shook her head in disapproval.

There was a closet in the room, a spot she hadn't checked. Floating to the closet, M'gann gently opened the door and hovered down as she spotted a weary body curled against the corner.

"Don't hurt me." The teenager whimpered, clutching his knees tighter to his chest keeping his head as far down as it would go.

She brushed his mop of hair with her fingers soothingly running through his scalp. "Robin, it's alright, I'm going to help you get out of here."

Her hand rose up and down as Robin nodded into himself.

"This is a dream." M'gann explained. "This can be whatever you want it to be if you use a little imagination. Watch me."

Robin looked up to face Miss Martian, and she quickly noted the boy to be Dick Grayson, but didn't bring up the fact. With a warm smile, she scooped up a small pile of dust bunnies and placed it at the edge of her fingertips at his eye's level.

He watched as M'gann's mind transformed the bits of lint into a moth. It flew around the closet space before exiting out the window. "See, you try it."

Dick stared in awe and wiped his hands across his eyes. He imagined the domino mask that Batman had given him and surely enough, one appeared on his face.

"Now," M'gann began, "try to focus on something in the real world so we can leave."

Dick recoiled. "Can't leave, he'll hurt me."

Suddenly, footsteps began to rattle the room and the door swung open as a man took long strides inside.

M'gann's attention switched over to the unfamiliar man who had a deep scowl on his face and a cigarette between his lips. He came forward and pushed M'gann roughly to the side before scooping Dick up by his shirt collar.

"You have to leave!" Dick shouted before getting thrown to the other side of the room.

The man began yelling profusely, half of which were slurs and growls.

"It's just a dream!" Miss Martian reminded. "You can control it! You have to calm down Robin!"

One large steel toed boot was rammed into Dick' stomach and the teenager screamed in agony. He felt the pressure of Tom's boot weigh in heavier, and deeper. His insides felt twisted and cramped and he curled into himself as Tom pressed his foot harder.

"Let go of him!" M'gann shouted, trying to use her telekinetic abilities.

Tom turned around and took his foot off Dick's small frame. He began to walk towards M'gann, who continuously tried to take the dream into her own hands.

"You have to get out of here…" Dick spoke almost inaudibly.

"I can't leave without you!" Miss Martian shouted as she saw the boy crawling forward was his arms.

"It's okay—"

"No Robin, you have to wake up!"

"He'll get you too. M'gann, leave."

"Robin—"

"I said LEAVE!"

The team looked at Miss Martian as her body suddenly jolted awake.

"What happened?" Wally asked.

"His fear limited my abilities." M'gann responded in a near whisper. "He believes no one could save him."

"From what?" Superboy asked curiously.

"I don't know who he was, the man in Robin's dreams, but he was hurting him." A tear rolled down M'gann's cheek as she choked out the last words. She didn't want to use the word "abuse," so she kept her concept vague, hoping to be able to bring this up to the little bird later on.

Connor got down on his knees and Wally scotched over to make some room. "Robin?" He asked lowly into his ear as he gave the small teenager a tugs on his shoulder.

Robin's eyes clutched tightly before he slowly opened them. "Batman?" He murmured, but as he saw Young Justice surrounding him, he immediately shot up.

"Robin, it is okay." Kadlur assured as he helped the acrobat find a more comfortable position. "Are you alright?"

Robin's fingers instantly flown towards his eyes, and he let out a breath of relief as he traced the edges of his domino mask. Looking around, he regained control of his breath as he analyzed his surroundings. "Yeah." He huffed. "Just a bad dream."

"A nightmare?" Wally asked.

"Actually," Robin added, "it was strange." He weakly pointed to Miss Martian, "you were in it."

"That's weird," M'gann chuckled, knowing that she and the League had discussed that she wasn't to go into anyone's minds without first higher order permission or personal consent.

"Well, we should show him to his room." Superboy suggested, softening up.

Robin unconsciously kept a hold of the fabric of Superboy's shirt, listening into his deep voice trying to find a trace of Batman's vibrating tones. But, even though it wasn't there, it was still nonetheless, soothing to the little bird. His mind finally registered the words and he cocked his head to the side. "Room?"

"Yeah!" Kid Flash shouted, "It's next to mine, come on!" The young speedster zipped off into the hallway before Robin could even touch the ground with his toes. Dismayed that no one was following him, he dashed back. "You coming?"

"Trying to." Robin laughed as he grabbed Superboy to support him onto his feet.

"Oops." Wally returned shyly. "Can you walk?"

"My legs are fine," Dick insisted, "it just hurts to stand upright. My ribs are still healing."

"Right."

Dick released his grip from Connor's shirt and stumbled over to lean against the less intimidating member of the team. "Thanks Superboy." He smiled, him and Kid Flash staggering to his room.

_** NANANANANANANNANANANANANANANA KIDFLASH~**_

"My room is right here," Kid Flash knocked on a metallic door before knocking onto another one. "and this one is yours, right next to mine."

Robin tried at the handle, but the door didn't open. He looked down at a little computer screen attached next to the handle of the door. "So, what's the password?"

"Password? You mean Batman didn't give it to you?"

"How can he? I don't think unconscious people can listen, can they?" Robin eyed. He plugged his glove into one of the outlets of the computer and easily repeated the process he had memorized from his latest mission. His fingers dashed along the holographic keyboard and within a half a minute, the computer's screen flashed green and the door clicked open.

"Whoa!" The speedster grinned entering into Robin's empty room. "Batman said he left you a note somewhere… here!" Kid Flash pointed.

Robin picked up the letter and read it with a heavy frown.

_Robin,_

_Al will be out to stay with some relatives and I must attend to business that may last a couple of days. You are to stay at Mount Justice until I return. Be careful and do not show anyone your true identity. Do not attend any missions and do not take part in night patrols. _

_-Batman_

"Something wrong?"

"Not really," he huffed. "Batman said he's going to be busy for a few days and that I have to stay at Mount Justice until then."

The speedster fidgeted all on the balls of his heels. Finally, with his arches firmly on the ground, he offered, "well I can always stay here in Mount Justice with you. My best friend from school has been hanging out with some huge multibillionaire so I doubt he'll have much time for me." Kid Flash finished with a disappointed sigh.

"That sucks. A good friend should always keep by your side, money or not." Robin replied with his lips pressed thinly. _What a jerk!_

"Yeah." the speedster replied slowly before plopping down onto the bed. "But you know what's ironic? Usually I'm the one who's always busy. Guess I deserved this one."

"I don't really get it."

"Every day afterschool he's asked me to hang out with him or walk with him, just to spend some time together. He's practically the one keeping our friendship together, but everyday I'm running off to Mount Justice to do what?"

"Kick butt? Save lives?"

Wally took a deep breath, "yeah, but sometimes it doesn't feel right. If I can balance out a decent amount of homework and Young Justice, why can't I make the time for him?"

This scenario began to feel too familiar to the little bird. Robin carefully took a seat next to Kid Flash, cradling his rib as he hunched over to find a more comfortable position. "Can you tell me who he is?"

The speedster flattened himself out, laying on top of the blankets. "It wouldn't hurt." He began. "His name is Dick Grayson, an amazing acrobat, an amazing person, an amazing friend." Wally sat himself up to take in the surprised eyes and agape mouth of Robin's. "You listening?"

Robin snapped out of his trance and nodded, "of course!"

"You know what the weirdest part is?" Kid Flash asked.

"What?"

"You remind me of him."

"Now that's weird."

"Totally man."

The two simply sat quietly, enjoying one another's silent company. Wally watched as the younger teen reset the passcode to his room, amazed at how much he could already do. He recalled the way Batman and Robin landed as they swung to the harbor with their grapplers, the way the little bird landed, nearly flawless. He wished he could pull off something like that, but he could never give up his love for speed.

Dick on the other hand, was at war with his mind. _That's defiantly Wally, defiantly Wally… what should I say… do not tell anyone your secret identity, who made up that rule anyway? But Batman may have a point… I'd end up giving away his secret identity too. Maybe it isn't Wally, maybe someone just too identical—_

_Grugggleee-e._

"Sorry!" Wally shouted with an embarrassed grin, "I'm a little hungry. Wanna' go out and eat with us? Us as in you, me, M'gann, the blonde, Supes Jr., and fish boy?"

"As long as I don't get a nickname."

"Done! Get dressed, I'll tell the others." the speedster yelled excitedly as he zipped out of the room.

Dick quickly shut the door and began to explore his little room. He opened the closet and found an array of single colored hood and began to undress from his Robin outfit. The tight clothing was a pain to remove, but when he finally managed to slip it out over his head, he let out an agonized breath and examined his torso.

It was neatly bandaged, but he traced the contours of his ribs. He hissed as he purposely pressed down on a tender area, checking its condition.

"Robin?" Wally called as he knocked against the door. "You ready?"

"In a minute." Robin shouted as he pulled a green hoodie over his sensitive skin. He still felt bare, so he grabbed a black hoodless jacket and quickly stuck his arms through the sleeves, wincing whenever he stretched his torso awkwardly. His pants became a challenge too, but he successfully put them on after biting back the discomfort and pushing through the battle.

_Putting on pants was that hard._

"Robin! Let's go, I'm starving! I'm gonna' eat through your door!" Kid Flash kidded as he continued knocking on the door.

_Identity!_

Dick frantically began to open all of the drawers and searched the little shelves until he found a pair of sunglasses with a sticky note attached to them. He wore the dark colored glasses and read the note attached.

_Wear when not Robin –Batman_

_Of course._

He crumpled the note and stuck it in his pocket. The door slid open and Robin was greeted by the Young Justice team, and with Kid Flash in his civilian clothes, his doubts completely evaporated.

"In case you can't tell," Wally began, with his thumb he pointed to himself. "I'm Wally, or Kid Flash." He pointed at each member of the group, "Kadlur, M'gann, Artemis, Superboy, we call him Connor."

Dick nodded and followed the team as they headed towards the exit.

"So what should we call you?" Artemis asked as she couldn't help but ruffle the hair on Dick's head.

"Argh, don't do that." Dick pouted. "You guys can call me Robin."

M'gann gave a friendly gesture. "Looks like Batman teaches all of you guys the same."

"The same?"

"A year ago, Batman brought over a friend of his. We went out to eat, but the guy wouldn't take off his motorcycle helmet, no matter where we went." Wally reminisced and couldn't suppress his laughter. "Except he actually gave us his name."

"Jason was it?" Artemis recalled.

"I don't remember." Wally shrugged.

As they exited the mountain, Dick was grateful for wearing an extra layer of clothing when he felt the coastal breeze bite at his cheeks. He walked alongside the team with his hands buried into the warmth of his neck. "Where are we going?" He asked as he tried to keep warm.

"Right there," Wally pointed at the dock, "at the end of the pier there's the best seafood joint… and potato chips or fries for this guy." He motioned to Kadlur.

They slid through the small crowd of fishermen and other merchants and entered the diner that the speedster had seem to favor. Upon entering, they took a seat at a bar shaped table where they were able to see the kitchen clearly.

"What can I get you boys?" the waiter asked, eying Dick suspiciously.

Dick could literally feel the glare that the man gave him, and he uneasily hid behind the pages of the menu.

"I never seen this one before," the waiter smirked as he walked in front of Dick and intentionally slid his sunglasses from the bridge of his nose. _Dick Gra—ayson eh?_

Dick snapped away and readjusted his sunglasses, feeling himself turn panicky. _Tom?_

"Robin, are you alright?" M'gann asked as she gently placed her palm on his shoulder.

The young bird flinched violently and immediately pulled his shoulder away from M'gann's touch. The only thing that was shielding the Robin's visible vulnerability was his sunglasses, but the dead giveaway was his hitching breath.

"Maybe we should go back." Kadlur suggested.

"N-no." Robin shook his head. "I'm fine, I was just thinking of something… I need to go to the restroom. Where is it?"

"It's in the kitchen area, I gotta' show you." the waiter sneered. "Come'long."

A knot formed in Dick's stomach and he suddenly didn't feel like going anymore. He reluctantly dragged himself out of the stool and followed the man into the kitchen area. The waiter had a firm grip on Dick's shoulder, and eventually had his fingers digging deep into Dick's collarbone.

The heavy feeling in his ribs began to feel heavier and the clutch on his shoulder made him want to drop to his knees and curl into his ball of protection. The man unlocked the door and roughly pushed Dick into the single restroom, locking the door behind him.

"Dick Grayson. I thought I'd never see you again." The waiter smirked.

"T-Tom?"

"And I thought you'd forgotten all about me," he taunted, backing his ex-child into the grimy wall, "how you been?"

"I thought you were dead." Dick stated, averting his gaze.

"Dickie," Tom jeered as he cupped the teenager's paling face in his calloused hands, "a single stab in the stomach won't kill a man. Especially if you're using dulled scissors." Tom forcefully shoved Dick into the wall, grinning as the acrobat drew out a long hiss as his healing ribs felt the impact of the solid walls. "It just draws blood and hurts a hell lot."

As Dick felt Tom release his body, he limply dropped to the ground, grabbing his sides.

His tormentor eyed the him once more, noticing how his boy continued to wrap his arms around his torso. He lifted Dick with one hand by the neck of his jacket and lifted his shirt, noting his neatly wrapped damaged torso. "So the little runt found a happy home? Too bad. I could have given you everything." He mocked as he dropped Robin back onto the ground. He squatted down. "Come home little bird. It's where you belong."

Mustering up as much courage as he could, he executed a sloppy sweep kick. Tom fell backwards and landed with his spine against the floor. Robin took this opportunity to dash for the door, but as he stood up to make his move, he felt a vice grip on his ankle as he was in motion. He fell and his cracked ribs smashed into the ground.

He couldn't hold back the wave of pain that shocked his body as the ground crushed his fragile bones. He felt himself being dragged by his ankles, but he was too weak to make any more moves.

"I'll give you a choice, come home with me." Tom brought Dick closer to himself and spoke in a harsh hushed tone, "or…" He flipped the boy and pressed his thick palm over his mouth. Moving back into a squatting position, he pressed one foot on top of Dick's ribcage.

Dick screamed in agony, but all of his sounds were muffled. Tears rolled down his face out of the corner of his sunglasses as he tried to squirm out of Tom's hold, but his efforts were futile and only caused him more pain.

Tom removed his boot and hand. "Whisper to me, what's it going to be?"

"I'll go." He broke down into a soft mutter. As Tom smiled, and began to stand up, Dick screamed in a raspy voice. "HELP ME!" Most of his sounds bounced off the walls making him unsure if anyone could hear him on the other side.

"Shut up brat," Tom snickered, backing Dick into the corner of the bathroom. "No one can even hear you in this room, it's nearly sound proof."

Dick began to feel hopeless as he curled in on himself, his hands clutching his head, hoping this was another bad dream, trying to wake up. But every time he felt Tom's breath another pang of helplessness struck his heart and the room felt smaller and smaller.

He shut his eyes tightly, as Tom grabbed his chin and forcefully brought it down. The sunglasses were slipping from his nose, and he opened his frightened eyes ever so slightly.

They were bright blue, a strong, yet vibrant kind of blue but tainted with fear. He felt his breathing grow uneven, and every time he reminded himself to breath, he was unable too. Air seemed to be choking him rather than helping him and he pulled his chin away to burry himself back into his arms.

_**NANANANANANANANAANANANANANANA KID FLASH!~**_

"Where could he be?" Wally asked as he leaned back against his stool. "It's been like 25 minutes."

"Maybe he's just feeling a little uneasy." M'gann worried.

Artemis nodded in agreement. "Guess we should have just stayed at Mount Justice."

"_HELP ME!"_

Superboy suddenly straightened from his slump posture and glanced around the room curiously. As everyone turned to face Connor, he spoke, "that's strange. I swore I heard something." His eyes went wide when he heard a distinctive scream.

"Back of the kitchen." Superboy shouted as he pushed himself off the chair, the piece of furniture crashing to the ground.

Wally was the first to disappear with a blur. The restaurant was fairly empty at the time, and he felt that no one would have been able to catch a glimpse of his face to properly place an I.D. on the speedster.

Arriving first to the source of the sound, he swung the door open. He saw the waiter looming over Robin and pulled him away. "What'd you do to him?" He yelled fiercely but immediately regret it as he saw Robin frightfully flinch at Kid Flash's loud tone. He gave the little bird a close hug, whispering to him soft words of comfort before turning around to deal with the man.

"Didn't do anything," the waiter pretended, "came inside cause he was taking so long, wanted to see if he was alright, found your friend like this."

"Is this true Robin?" Wally asked in a gentle whisper.

"I'm sorry." Dick mewed, which Wally also took as a 'yes.'

Wally and the waiter casually held a mutual conversation in which the speedster apologized for "falsely" accusing the man for hurting the little bird. As the waiter left, Wally spoke. "It's alright— now, now."

Robin poked his head out from under his shaking self, not realizing that his sunglasses were at the tip of his nose. He looked up from under his hiding spot and faced Wally with his eyes that could only be from the supernatural. No one could have eyes like his, and everyone who saw them once would be able to identify him from a mile away just from his eyes.

This effect was no exception to the speedster and with his mouth agape this time, Dick quickly readjusted the sunglasses.

"Dick?" Wally asked in near excitement. "You're Robin?"

"You can't tell anyone Wally! No one! Not a word!" Robin sniffled.

"Wow, I can't believe this!"

"This is so not asterous…"

"Dickie!"

"Hush Wally!" Dick urged as he turned Wally around.

"Are you guys alright?" Kadlur asked as he entered the restroom with the rest of Young Justice trailing behind him.

"Everything's fine now," Robin assured, "I was just feeling a little dizzy."

"We should bring you back to Mount Justice."

Robin shook his head while Wally helped him onto his feet. "No way." He insisted. "We're already out here, can't we look around a bit?" He asked hopefully. The only time he had walked through the busy streets were when he had his hood promptly over his face while using his sleight of hand to steal a fruit or two. It was a chance to hang out with Wally, and a chance he wouldn't die to pass up.

Kadlur sighed but lit up slightly. "Just for an hour."

Connor watched as Wally helped Robin leave the restroom. Something still wasn't clicking for him. He distinctively heard the little bird's cry for help followed by the sheer sound of tortured pain. Dizziness obviously couldn't fit the scenario. It could have been that Robin is just a compulsive liar. That's who he was. A compulsive, attention-wanting liar.


	10. Framed

**For Local Cow:**

**Q. At the end of this chapter, he had regained broken ribs, but then strangely awkward enough, is able to walk around without wincing or displaying pain on his face.**

**A. He isn't really able to walk, most of the time just his arm around Wally's shoulder, and all that the team knows is that Robin was hurt in combat, and nothing that happened in the restroom.**

**Q. Speaking of Robin, he is pretty healthy after resting for a short time in Batman and Alfred's care. He had been enduring Tom for quite a while, I believe, and has not been getting the nutrition he needs in that time. Yet he goes out to fight the baddies. Oh dear. **

**A. This is a total mistake on me _... we will get back to this.**

**Q. All of a sudden (to the public, mind that) Bruce Wayne, the billionaire adopts Richard Grayson, along with the sudden appearance of new-costume Robin.**

**A. Bruce hasn't officially adopted Grayson yet, so nothing for the press.**

**For Lady Nightwing:**

**Q. How did Tom find Dick?**

**A. Dramatic, unsuspected, total coincidental reuniting moment.**

**Q. How come Superboy didn't hear Robin's and Tom's conversation?**

**A. Quoted, "No one can even hear you in this room, it's nearly sound proof." I tried to make it so that certain levels of noise will be able to be heard through the room and most of the time, the conversation between Dick and Tom were muffles and whispers, or at least that's what I tried to portray.**

**Thanks for reading guys! ^^" I'll try to work out all the constructive criticisms too, though I'm not sure if I'll be able to incorporate all my mess-ups ;-;...  
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Fight, Live, Retaliate

Chapter 10

Framed

The promised hour Kadlur had reluctantly made was broken in a mere 30 seconds. As the young bird had his arm around Wally's shoulder, he quickly felt out of breath every time his torso was stretched a little. He bent over to find a more comfortable position but nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

"We should go back to Mount Justice instead." Kadlur insisted, which Robin reluctantly agreed too. The acrobat didn't even have enough left in him to pull off one of his infamous pouty-faces, so painstakingly, him and Wally exited the small restaurant.

Connor grew annoyed as it seemed that everyone was dawdling, just to let the speedster and the liar to catch up. It seemed that Robin was making too much of a big deal to the injury which he believed could be none more than a scratch. Growing more impatient, Connor walked over to Wally and scooped Robin into his arms mindlessly, but gently. Carrying him bridal style with Robin's scapula against his forearm seemed to be effective, for the bird relaxed a bit and muttered a thanks.

This reaction confused Connor. People usually would have jumped out of his arms and scream, "I can walk you know!" But this turned out to be an oddly different scenario. The second thing he noted was Robin's weight. He was out there fighting Bane AND the Joker, but he could have been lifted off by the slightest freeze. How could someone of his status do it? Connor curiously peeked over Robin's sunglasses which had slid down a bit, but the bird was instantly asleep. He couldn't help but sigh.

"_What's wrong Connor?" M'gann asked Connor mentally, creating a link between only the two of them._

"_Nothing…"_

"_You can talk to me about it." Connor looked over to see M'gann offer a sympathetic smile._

"_It's Robin."_

"_He's a nice boy isn't he? Sad what he has to go through though…"_

Connor noted M'gann's tone and instantly shut out the connection. Everyone was taking Robin's side, buying into his fake pity story. Superheroes don't have time to put up with this crap, so why are they now?

They arrived back to Mount Justice and Connor gently placed the sleeping bird onto the couch. Unconsciously, he sat by the furniture, listening to Dick's shallow breathing. It made his heart worry because it reminded him of the time Miss Martian was sick with some type of intergalactic cold. J'onn told them all she needed was rest, which turned out to be true. This scene played out just the same with Batman telling the team all Robin needed was rest, but nonetheless, he couldn't help but to feel that small hint of concern.

The team seemed to have just crowded around the couch and Wally began to channel surf, finding something to watch.

"Enough with the ponies!" Artemis hissed, snatching the remote back into her hand.

****

_One week earlier._

Tom sat in his hospital bed, white walls surrounding the room and an I.V. stuck in his vein. The morphine was about wearing off and he felt the stinging in his gut. _The damned brat is going to get it._

He watched as two officers entered his room, one with a notepad, both in uniform. They both pulled up chairs next to his bed and offered him a glass of water which he refused blandly.

"Hello Tom…" the officer flipped through his pages, "Johnson. We're going to be asking you a few questions if you don't mind."

"Why." Tom spat.

"It appears that you have been assaulted, and there's no real evidence that can give us a good lead."

"Seems reasonable. Well git'on with it."

"Do you have any enemies that may have wanted to attack you?"

"None—none that I know of." He replied nonchalantly.

"It says you adopted two kids."

"Says correct."

"Do you know where they are? We may have to speak with them." One of the officers asked as he tapped his pen against his notepad.

"My first adoption… he was a violent one. When he turned 18 he walked straight out the door. He didn't like the attention I was giving to the little one." Tom half-lied then spoke innocently. "The little one, was a mild, peaceful one. He wasn't at the house?"

"When officers found you, you were the only one in your house." The officer replied.

"Oh no…"

"Can we ask you when your first adopted son left?"

"A year and a half ago." Tom answered. "I didn't feel the need to report it because he was legal age."

The officers began flipping through the pages some more. "We noticed when we entered the room, it smelled of alcohol and there was a ragged dog bed in which we suspect a child was sleeping in. Can you explain that?"

"Yes, yes." Tom began. "After our first adopted son left, we got a dog named Rover, to ease the little one's pain. But, Rover eventually died and the little one felt depressed and would slept in the dog's bed ever since. He does have his own room, but he chooses not to sleep in it anymore, but I leave it open just in case." Tom deceitfully clarified, using his ex-wife's bedroom as evidence to his claim since the two never slept together anyway.

"And the alcohol?"

"My wife recently left me and I haven't been coping with it very well. We're sort of a broken family y'know? I know I should be taking care of the child, I will now, I can assure you that. I just needed something to get me off my sorry ass, and this really is the turn around."

The officers were eating off the palm of Tom's hands. They bought the story and dug themselves into it. One of the officers continuously began jotting notes down while the other asked question after question, each of them making Tom seem more innocent and more innocent.

"Tom, we feel that this crime maybe committed from a grudge." The officer noted. "We believe your first adopted son stabbed you and took your other son for revenge. Most adopted children tend to have some kind of psychological problem, I'm sure you know that."

"I know." Tom sighed. "I hope he's alright."

This was playing out better than he planned.

"Can we get their names?"

**NANANAAANANANANANANANNANANANA**

"Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him because he can take it…"

"Who the hell directs this crap." Wally blurted as the team sat around the couch watching The Dark Knight. "And why does Batman get his own movie? They should make a movie called Kid Flash!"

"In your dreams." Artemis taunted. "A Flash movie would end in ten seconds."

Miss Martian chuckled and Connor stared at them awkwardly, trying to figure everything out. As the Young Justice team chatted quietly, the computerized recognition system suddenly rang out.

"Recognize Batman 02."

The team spun around, facing the door. "Batman? I thought you would be out for a few days." Kadlur asked midway.

"He is." The red-hooded figure spoke. "That's why I'm stopping by."

"Jason?" Artemis smiled. "We haven't seen your face… well mask, in a while."

"When I heard you guys took in another runt, I had to see who it was." Jason replied as he took off his motorcycle helmet to reveal a red domino mask underneath. Placing the helmet on a nearby table, he crouched next to the sleeping figure and lowered his sunglasses.

He didn't have to see his eyes to recognize who this boy was. He knew it right off the bat, and there was no mistake here.

"How did you get in here anyway?" Wally asked.

"Hacked." Jason replied simply as he took off a glove and pressed his cold palm to Robin's forehead. "How is he?"

"He needs some rest." Kadlur spoke. "Do you know him?"

"You can say that." Jason sighed as he pushed the sunglasses back to the bridge of Dick's nose. Just at that moment, the sleeping figure stirred. His brow crinkled before his eyebrows lit up, signaling his awareness.

"Jason?" Dick asked as he eyed the familiar facial features.

"So you remember." Jason greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"I could be better…" Dick trailed as he tried to sit up, wincing as he did.

"What's wrong?"

"Ribs…"

"Everyone out." Jason yelled, glaring as the Young Justice members left to sit at the dining table adjacent to their sitting room.

"Turn around." He spoke, which Dick instantly complied. Jason gently lift up the hoodie and unwrapped the bandages that hugged the smaller boy's torso. He had to hold back bile that was rising from the back of his throat. There had to be twice as many scars than the last time he saw Dick's back and he had lost a substantial amount of weight. It only pained him to imagine what could have happened. He recognized some patterns as belt lashes and others as cigarette burns and he unconsciously trailed his finger gently over the areas.

"Is anything wrong?" Dick asked innocently.

"No." Jason barely managed a reply. "'Gonna start now." He removed his glove and began to press against the acrobat's back in a uniform, and soft manner. Dick gasped at the tender areas, but hissed unnaturally at a specific spot. Jason's lip twisted uneasily. "Have you broken anything lately?"

"Four ribs from Bane and Joker."

Jason shook his head and messily rewrapped Robin's torso. "I know you're a little fighter but take it easy. I'll get you something to eat."

"Thanks." Robin replied and watched as the older boy strode off to the kitchen.

"You guys can go back." Jason announced as he left towards the stove, as he passed by M'gann, he tapped her shoulder, signaling her to follow him. The two trailed to the stove that wasn't too far. As he stopped in front of the stove, Miss Martian asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He lied. "Can you help me cook-up something for Robin?"

"Sure," she laughed as she look out a pan, "you have trouble cooking too?"

"I don't really cook." Jason admitted, "just take-out food each day."

"So why did you offer to cook him something if you can't cook?" M'gann asked curiously while taking out a frying pan. "Not to be offensive, I just found it funny."

Jason leaned against the counter, rubbing his temple. "To do something for him for once." He muttered almost inaudibly.

"Care to clarify? If that's okay." she asked with her palm over the heat dial, telepathically turning on the stove.

"As long as you don't tell anyone else." Jason responded lowly, pushing himself away from the counter. "It stays between us."

"_Of course I won't." M'gann mentally communicated with a reassuring tone. "No one will be able to hear us this way."_

The black haired man with a white streak from his bangs let out a heavy sigh. Opening the refrigerator he tossed M'gann two eggs and looked away in disappointment. As much as he didn't want to spill his guts to a complete stranger, he felt trapped and consumed with his burden. _"I'm a coward." _Jason replied, no longer able to hold back his thoughts.

"_We all get scared—"_

"_I'm a selfish, coward." _Jason clenched his teeth and grabbed his head in frustration. Looking down, he could feel tears well up from behind his domino mask. The silence between them lasted for what felt to be a long moment, but Jason wouldn't think until he was able to compose himself. He wouldn't break down in front of anyone.

"_Jason?"_ M'gann looked at him with a worried expression as she cracked an egg into the pan. _"I'm sure you have a probable explanation—"_

"_No, I don't. My actions were inexcusable M'gann." _He slammed the refrigerator door with enough force that the glass bottles of coke inside were able to be heard rattling from the outside. _"To put it plainly, I had enough of being treated like shit from out foster father that I walked out the door, letting Robin take all the fall."_

"_So you two are brothers."_

"_Yeah."_

"_How did your foster father treat you two?" _M'gann turned around to face Jason, to tell him he had her full attention.

"_Worse than ants that bored kids burn. Robin's been hurt and put in the hospital so many times that he became conditioned to fear hospitals, and pain had knocked me out more times than I can count when I lived there." _Jason let out a shaky breath. _"Each incident was covered with a lie because we were both too scared to speak the truth. In the end, I walked out, not even thinking about the wellbeing of Robin."_

Suddenly, there was a loud sizzled followed with a yellow incandescent pop. Some egg yolk splattered on Jason's cheek, which he quickly wiped off the slight burn.

M'gann bumped her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Hello M'gann, cooking." She quickly turned off the heat and allowed the noisy crackling oil against the pan to settle down.

"Is everything okay?" Superboy shouted.

"Everything's fine Connor!" M'gann assured, slipping the overcooked egg with no yolk onto a plate.

"So I guess you can't cook either." Jason sighed, but with a bit of calamity. He picked up the plate and rummaged through the drawers for a fork. Placing the silverware onto the plate, he turned around to face the green-skinned alien. "Thanks." He forced out before walking back to his Robin.

Jason found Robin leaning against Wally, mindlessly watching whatever was on the news. He tapped on Wally's shoulder and the speedster got up and Jason replaced his spot. Dick nuzzled into Jason's arm, adjusting his posture to get his face into a more comfortable position against his brother's built arm.

"Got you something." Jason whispered, handing Robin a plate.

"What's that." Dick twitched.

"An egg."

"Oh." He stuck out his tongue. "Wally you want an egg?"

Jason snatched the plate back. "You should learn to eat what's placed in front of you."

"Only if it's edible." Dick retorted.

Jason rubbed his knuckle against Dick's scalp and the boys shared their moment, laughing, until Dick let out a pained groan.

"You okay?"

"Hurts to laugh." He softly replied, getting back into a comfortable leaning position.

Artemis couldn't help but chuckle as she watched the boys' interaction, envying how they were able to get along. "How long have you guys known each other?"

Jason looked at Dick, who gave a firm nod. "We're brothers." He explained. "Not biologically, but adoption wise."

"Brothers nonetheless." The young acrobat whispered with a volume that only Jason and possibly Superboy was able to hear. Jason's lips formed into a grin as his ears caught onto the faint words, and replied by pressing his cheek against Dick's hair.

"This just in, breaking news!" the television set blared, catching everyone's attention.

"Wonder what's up this time." Kid Flash noted.

"Wanted is a man known as Jason Todd who allegedly stabbed his former foster parent Tom Johnson and kidnapped his adopted son Richard Grayson. If anyone knows anything or have any information, please contact the police."

"No way." Dick murmured.

"Son of a bitch." spluttered Jason.


	11. Robin  Red Hood Verse pt1

**Thanks for continuing to follow guys! Thanks for the new alert'rs, the new fav'rs, new review'rs and the people who always review and all those little anon people running around who enjoy this story! xD. Also, thanks for the positive reactions amongst Jason's arrival ^^" I'm sure he feels the love.**

**Sorry for the wait! But I was caught up with booking stuff for San Diego's Comic Con and getting badges and stuff since the registration opened today, I had to get my sh—together.**

**-ProtectorKorii + EpicNinjaSushi made a clear point about the lack of emotional content which I will try to keep in mind .!**

**-Celestial: Who's Jason?**

**Jason, known as Jason Todd, currently under the name of Red Hood was the second Robin. So far, there have been five Robins, each with a distinctive personality which you may feel free to look up.**

**The "x" years ago, I based Dick's parents death on pre-crisis, meaning his parents died when he was 8. Present time in this story Jason is 22 (and a half c:). **

**You'll notice a dab of Jason Todd's; "The Lost Days."**

**And quick reminder since this was only mentioned once, Wendy = Tom's ex-wife ^^"**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**UPDATE 3/21 P.S.: GOING ON A HIATUS / VERY SLOW UPDATES DUE TO FANIME NEARING (I need to make arts to sell at Fanime so I can help pay off my share of the hotel for COMIC CON!) Thanks for understanding.  
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Fight, Live, Retaliate

Chapter 11

Robin - Red Hood Verse Part 1

_Five years ago._

Jason heard the doorbell ring and went to press his ear against the door of his room. No one visited the Johnsons, like no one. They were a pair of screaming, bashful tots who would have argued right against left. No one could handle them unless one party was drunk.

It couldn't be his social worker because Tom always had a way with "words."

He stretched his aching spine like a cat and lowered ear to try to hear between the small spacing of the door to the floor. Who was it? He picked up a few words here and there, but not enough to put together a story. He heard footsteps creep along the hallway and stop in front of the door. He immediately dodge the door that slowly opened and watched as Tom entered the room.

The door shut softly and almost immediately he felt his assaulter's long fingers dig into his windpipe and mercilessly dragged him to the closet. His fingers were quickly replaced by a rough strap that locked around Jason's neck.

"Sit Rover." Tom hissed as he shut the closet door.

_Rover? _Jason traced rough lining, quickly to find a boxy shape attached to it. _Shock collar._ He sighed and sat quietly, perking up when he heard the door open and multiple footsteps run along the closet.

"This is where the boy will be staying." He heard Tom speak. "Oh no, no, don't go over there son, that closet is full of junk. Something might fall out and hurt'ya, I still need to clean it."

_Another kid? Is this why he's been cleaning? Pathetic._

"There isn't a bed?" spoke another.

"Well, the springs on the bed popped out and I didn't want it to poke and hurt the kid, so I sent Jason to stay at his aunt's until the new bed came in. This little guy will sleep in Jason's room for now. The bed will come in in a few days then this room will be his."

Jason wanted to just scream bullshit, but he bit back his tongue as he reminded himself what was holding his neck so tightly. He heard a little high pitch sound speak happily, "are we going to get a dog?"

Then a female voice responded. "Dick is very good with animals."

"We just might." Tom replied.

After the two conversed the woman seemed to agree that this was "perfect" living conditions for Dick and left after explaining some of Dick's troubles with handling his parents' deaths. Jason could hear little footsteps wander around the room curiously and took this chance to open the closet door and slip out from it.

Dick turned to see Jason groggily appear from the closet and fell silent. He scurried backwards, huddling into the nearest corner of the room.

Jason stared at Dick with his naturally intimidating eyes. Turning to the doorknob of the closet, examined himself, noting the bags under his eyes. "Damn, I look like a monster." He managed a chuckle and slumped against the closet door.

He watched as this little child innocently toddled towards him, fearfully and watchfully. Dick took a few steps forward, wanting to take another step back, but with a hint of imagination, approaching the teenager become easier. He imagined himself walking towards the lions' cages, hand outreached wanting to touch its paw.

"Dick Grayson, famous acrobat." Jason recognized as he cocked his eyebrow, watching as the acrobat petted his hand. "I've seen your show once, heard your parents died though, must have sucked."

Dick shrunk back and tears instantly welled up in his eyes.

_Great job Jason. That's the first thing you say?_

"Sorry." He muttered, moving slowly to the crying soul, kneeling to get to eye level. He rubbed his hand awkwardly along Dick's back, trying to sooth the boy, "I didn't really know my parents if that makes you feel any better." The frail acrobat clung onto Jason's shirt, burying his head into the teenager's torso. "I guess I should just shut up now."

"Not fair." Was all Jason could make out between the Dick's muffled sobs. The once cheery child quickly melted down into a weeping mess._ How long did he keep up his façade?_ He pressed his forehead against Dick's, "Hey, hey," he spoke softly, "it's alright."

They stayed in their clingy position for fifteen minutes; Jason patiently waiting for Dick to calm down. It was something he wasn't used to, but it felt right to do. Usually, he would have been lashing out at adults older than him or teenagers around his age, "get over it!" "It's not the end of the world!" "Quit whining!"

But this was different. This was a child, too young to should have seen his parents' death first handedly. He allowed the blue-eyed boy to stream tears down his face until no more tears would come out. Dick pushed himself off of Jason, looking at the older boy with puffy eyes and quivering lips.

With a kind finger, Jason gently wiped the last tear from the base of Dick's eyes, smiling as he wiped the tear into his palm. "You're a tough little guy, but it's okay to cry."

Dick sniffled a bit, hiccupping as he began to regulate his breathing.

Jason switched to sitting with his legs crisscrossed and like a magnet, Dick crawled into the teenager's lap. He curiously reached out for the strap around Jason's neck and whispered between his hitching breaths, "what's that?"

"A… terrible fashion statement." Jason laughed.

"Oh no." Dick gasped.

"It's not that bad." the teenager assured, leaning back with his elbows. "It still attracts the ladies—"

"No," Dick shook his mop of black hair, "mama and tata always told me to introduce myself when I meet someone new."

Jason nearly creased an eyebrow out confusion. "Well, it's not too late. I'm Jason."

"Dick." the smaller boy replied with a smile, which dropped into a confused expression. "I thought you were at your aunt's house."

The boys turned around as the door swung open and in Jason's eyes, the atmosphere just turned black. Tom entered the room looking more menacing than usual, happier that he managed to get his hands on two boys instead of just one. "I didn't say you can get outt'a the closet." Tom growled. "Who gave you that right?"

Jason felt Dick latch onto his pant leg, being unfamiliar with the situation of the sudden uproar of a stranger's voice directed so brutally, but the small child was promptly snatched away into Tom's grasp. Jason glared at Tom as the man pushed Dick aside, giving the eight year old a front row seat as he rammed his foot into Jason's side.

Dick stared into Tom's piercing eyes as the man squatted in front of him. "Now, if you don't follow my instructions and be a bad boy like him, this will be you." He threatened, which Dick responded with a slow, fearful nod. Over Tom's shoulder he could see Jason double over, his hand grabbing his side. It was hard to comprehend and he could feel his heart skip beats. There was a sudden rush of adrenaline that overwhelmed him, but it wasn't the rush that he got from swinging from the trapeze. It was anxiety in its natural form.

As Tom had his attention on his newer child, Jason picked himself off the ground and grabbed a fistful of their guardian's hair, yanking him back and away from the acrobat. With as much energy as he could muster up, he managed to yank Tom into the opposite direction, and quickly repositioned himself in front of Dick.

Tom smirked. "Boy—o, you seemed to have forgotten…"

Jason bared his teeth, snarling as he did, but as Tom pulled out a remote-like device, his expression faded. He felt a small jolt of electricity run through his neck, and the second prolonged spark was able to bring him to his knees. His hands instinctively reached for the source of pain, and another jolt was sent through his nerves. Each one seemed stronger than the last, and the spikes of pain pushed him further to the ground.

He quickly planted his palms onto the ground to avoid face planting the carpet. He groaned as another wave of pain vibrated through his neck, his breath shortening in between each episode.

Jason turned his head and unintentionally growled, "don't touch me!" As Dick was about to latch onto the teenager for security.

Tom purposely held back his thumb from pressing the button that caused all the torment to let Jason spit out his sentences. He grinned as he watched the interactions between the boys. One physically hurt, the other, mentally scarred. It was too good.

"No," Jason whispered, indirectly apologizing to frightened Dick, "if you touch me and he shocks me, you'll get shocked too." He watched with frustrated eyes as Dick repeatedly shook his head, unable to twig the situation to its full extent. This was unfamiliar, uncharted grounds.

Jason fumbled with the collar trying to pry the thing off. He squeezed his fingers between the space, but there was no avail. He was caught by surprise when the collar went off, shocking him with a higher voltage. The unsuspected event caused Jason to accidently let a curdling scream rip through his throat and he twitched violently as the remaining currents zipped through his nerves. He hit the floor with a faint stare and edgy breathing.

Dick covered his ears, his heart racing as he took in the scene. "STOP IT!" He shrieked, as he was being pulled back into his memories. The circus came back to him and the walls morphed into the familiar, haunting canvas fabrics that surrounded it. Jason laid motionless in the center of the ring, convulsions still running through his body. Dick couldn't help but to reach out and grab his shoulder with both his palms.

"Jason?" He sniffed, panicking as he did.

The ringmaster snickered, walking past him with a crude smirk. He tossed the young acrobat a key before exiting the colorful tent. Dick squinted his watery eyes and cautiously picked the key off the carpet. Realizing what it was, he snapped back into the discomforts of reality. He stared at the key then glanced at Jason's neck.

Wiping his tears with the sleeve of his shirt, he stuck the key into the lock and undid the collar.

"Jason?" He repeated as he threw the collar to the side. The teenager's eyes were closed, making him worry. He placed his finger above Jason's upper lip and felt the warm breathing from his nose. Unsure of what to do next, he lifted Jason's eyelid with his finger, then moving it away to let his eye fall shut again.

He curled against Jason's fallen figure and stared at the teenager's face, waiting until he woke up.

**NANANANANANANNANANANA**

_Three years ago._

"…and you're out there whoring yourself to everyone—everything that moves!" Tom hollered from the kitchen, his raspy voice crackling against his voice box.

The young acrobat snapped awake from the sudden yelling and crawled out of his pile of cotton. He toddled over to latch onto his sleeping brother in the corner. With his little fingers with broken nails pushing as far as they could go into the torn fabric of Jason's formally white shirt, he pressed himself against Jason's body.

"J-Jas-soo—on?" Dick stuttered, sniffling as he choked the words out from behind tears that streamed down his face. He shook Jason's shoulder hoping to emit some kind of response.

"Dickie." Jason mumbled with a slight smile while blinking his eyes. "You cold little bro? It's summer."

Dick shook his head, and flinched when Tom's crude sentences echoed the house.

Jason sighed and sat upright and small arms wrapped half way around his hips. Jason couldn't help but wince when Dick had his arms around one of the longer gashes and had to quickly pry is little brother away. He quickly recuperated by hugging the younger boy, one arm gently around his back, weary of any bruising areas, and a hand to the back of his head, like a caring mother would to ease her toddler's crying.

"Shhh, it's okay." He cooed as he held the shaking boy between his hold.

Dick sniffled and murmured. "I'm hungry."

Another line of ill-mannered phrases echoed through the room, making Jason frown. "Don't think we'll be able to get something to eat right now."

Suddenly, the door swung open and everything just seemed to die.

Dick let out a whimper, and quickly buried his face into Jason's shoulder. It was an act that gave their foster father an easy smirk, and Todd knew it. He moved his younger brother behind himself and forced his body to get onto his feet. He rocked on his heels as his aching joints began to protest.

"Do you get off seeing a child's pain?" He growled coarsely, barely able to keep his balance. "Some sort of sadistic pedophile?"

Tom frowned.

Jason took one step forward, pain ripping through his nerves. His step was short when a sharp stinginess returned to the back of his left leg. His knee buckled underneath him, and he fell onto the carpet in humiliation.

Dick toddled towards his fallen brother and clutched tightly to the fabric of his shirt, shaking his head in remonstration, not wanting his brother to continue to move. Dick felt himself being pulled roughly. A large calloused hand came down and yanked him forward by his bangs. His body tumbled away, and his assaulter lifted his head, exposing his purple cheek.

With the scent of alcohol emitting from his lips, Tom's hand connected to the already bruising cheek, snickering as he did.

Jason's eyes shut tightly as he tried to put himself together. He brought his leg into himself, trying once more to stand. He could feel Tom's eyes switch over into him as he managed to bring himself onto his feet. He toddled, and quickly fell towards the nearest wall, leaning against it for support.

"Jackass." Jason breathed out heavily.

Tom walked over easily, slamming a palm against the wall next to Jason's face. He looked down at his son's determined, spiteful eyes and spat on his cheek. "Repeat tha—at?"

Jason shut his eyes and took a deep breath. When he reopened them, he glared at Tom with pure hatred. "Jack ah—" He was immediately cut off when a fist to his gut caught him off guard. He choked dryly as he recovered, forcing his arm back and forwards again into Tom's stomach to bring him down to his level.

He pushed Tom's head downwards, connecting the man's nose to his unsteady knee. As Tom's face rebounded from the collision, he took the chance to land an uppercut, flinging Tom to the ground.

After the adrenaline pumped out of his attacks, he slumped down against the wall with Dick quick to rush against his torso.

"Let me see." Jason breathed out as he tilted his brother's face. He brushed the purpling-blue cheek and Dick winced away. "Pretty heavy bruise there." He sighed.

Tom recuperated from the blow and the two boys stared back in surprise. "Rover shouldn't done that." He barked wildly, veins bulging from his arms and neck out of rage.

Jason could feel Dick's hands stiffen against the fabric of his shirt and wrapped his hand around the small fist.

Dick whimpered when Tom viciously reach for the collar of Jason's stained t-shirt and pulled him off the ground with one swift motion. He watched as Jason's feet struggled to hold some grounding, and his body stumbled in the air. He bit his lower lip and grabbed Tom's leg, clutching onto his limb as firmly as his hands could hold.

Tom easily shook off the youngling and proceeded to shove Jason's back against the wall. With an open palm, he pushed it onto the surface of Jason's gash. He watched as his adopted son squirmed beneath the pain.

Jason hissed, while broken sounds of pain escaped his mouth. He immediately tried to pry the hand away from his side, but he felt an immediate appliance of pressure, making him go rag from the discomfort.

"Not so cocky now aye?" Tom smirked as he pressed Jason and his gash into the wall.

"Get your hand off me." He growled angrily. With little options left, he fought past the agony and lifted his legs into the air, using Tom's arm as a support. Jason kicked both feet forward, sending quite the impact into the man's stomach. He launched himself forward and punched Tom straight in his face. He felt a sick wave of triumph over him when he felt the little cartilage in the nose shatter beneath his knuckles.

Dick scurried over to Jason and the boys looked at each other, one in thought, and one without certainty.

"What do we do now…?"

Jason grit his teeth momentarily before turning to Dick and rubbing the back of his neck comically. He spoke with strain and confidence, "I guess we could get something to eat now."

"Get something to eat?" Dick repeated worriedly as Jason pulled the ragged shirt off his younger brother. He felt himself being fitted into a more cleaner look, looking down to see himself in a red t-shirt over a thin black hoodie.

Jason threw a pair of black jeans towards his younger brother and spoke, "put this on." Jason himself continued by putting on a pair of black cargo pants, and a thin red hoodie that he knew would cover his facial features. He turned to his brother and pulled the hood over his brother's head. It covered most of his face, but it didn't feel enough. He pulled out a plastic domino mask he wore to a Halloween party and hovered it above Dick's face. It would do.

He gently tucked the piece of plastic in his hoodie's pocket and grabbed Dick's hand after the acrobat had finished changing. Jason tugged him out of the room and down the hallway.

"Bye lady, Dick and I are going to the street vendors." Jason called out as he opened the door. "We'll be back in an hour."

"Mhmm, you boys be good!" Wendy replied loudly without care from the couch.

Jason led Dick out of the house and gently shut the door behind them.


	12. Robin Red Hood Verse pt 2 of 2

**A/N: Hiatus-ish-mode due to upcoming anime convention [has an artist alley table] and future coming comic con [has a badge]. But thanks for everyone who keeps following even if this chapter is long overdue! I'll try to write more!**

Fight, Live, Retaliate

Chapter 12

Robin - Red Hood Verse Part 2 of 2

It's been a while since Jason felt the fresh summer heat against his cheek and he squinted as the sun rays shone across his lashes. He felt his fingers being held securely, and looked down to see Dick bite back his lower lip. He knew his younger brother was nervous but somewhat excited. He knew because Dick's eyes were lit with a sunnier sign of life, bringing back the bright blues he had never seen in a long time.

Dick toddled with trouble behind his staggering brother. He watched as Jason pulled his red hood over his head, and tugged Dick down a few alley ways. Soon enough, after a few twisted paths, they landed right in the middle of the street vendors' site.

"Do you have enough energy to run?" Jason asked Dick amongst the bustling shoppers.

"I think so." The little acrobat replied unsurely and sprang lightly on his heels. He felt his older brother wrap the plastic domino mask over his eyes and Dick raised his eyebrow slightly.

"Keep your head down." He directed and pulled his brother towards the stalls. He glanced around, smelling the warm scent of bread that made his stomach growl in anticipation. His eyes darted left to right, and he quickly made his move.

They moved towards a fruit stall in which its owner was negotiating with another shopper. Jason grabbed one of the apples naturally and examined it gently in his hand. Feeling unnoticed, he took the apple and tugged Dick along the streets.

From the corner of his eye, the street vendor noticed Jason walk away with his fruit and shouted, "Sir! You have to pay for that!"

Jason ignored it and continued to pull his younger brother along.

"Sir!" The merchant yelled loudly, gathering the attention of a few bystanders.

At this point, Jason grabbed Dick's hand tightly and dashed down the street. Adrenaline rushed through his blood and he took a peak at his younger brother. Dick was barely managing to keep his pace. His footing was sloppy and the paling on his younger brother's cheeks forced a sense of worry in his heart.

_Into alleys, left alley, right alley, forward, left alley. _Jason thought to himself, recalling the shortest distance to the park. He turned around, pleased that no one had followed them, but a knot formed in his stomach as he watched Dick lurch over with his hands on his knees.

"Hey, are you alright?" Jason asked as he rubbed his hand soothingly along the acrobat's spine.

Dick nodded mutely and let out a few coughs here and there. When he managed to catch his breath, he responded, "out of breath, too tired Jay."

Jason led his brother over to an isolated park bench and handed Dick the apple. "Here," he offered, "take a bite. It'll be worth the energy."

Dick shook his head no. "That's stealing. Tata always told me never to steal."

"Can't we make an exception?"

Dick shook his head again.

"Alright," Jason smirked and teased. He took a commercial-like bite out of the apple and chewed it dramatically. "You know, it's really good. Compliments the summer heat if you know what I mean."

The young Grayson's lip turned into a sour pout and he snatched the apple out of his older brother's hand. He took a generous bite from the fruit and pushed the apple back into Jason's hand. "You don't even know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, you're right." He laughed as he took another bite and passed it back to Dick.

They passed the ripe fruit back and forth until it was nothing more than just its core.

"Should have taken another one." Jason mumbled with discontent and tossed the apple core into the grass field behind them.

Dick kept his head low and Jason saw his lower lip casting a frown.

Concerned, Jason gave Dick a little shake. "What's wrong?"

"We stole." He muttered softly beneath his quivering voice.

"Well, technically I stole," Jason reminded, "but you can do it next time."

"No, we can't steal." The acrobat repeated with his hands clenched to his jeans. "It's not right. The merchants are trying to make money to live too, we can't take that away from them."

Jason fell back. "The way you explain it make it sounds as if we killed someone." Dick looked up to glare at him, as if they really had committed murder. Retreating from Dick's glare, Jason came up with another proposition. "How about we never target the same stall each week and steal only once from a stall per day."

It felt fair to Dick, considering their circumstances, but there was still that voice in his head that told him stealing was wrong.

Jason could see the contemplation mixed with disapproval in Dick's thoughts. "And how about for each day we steal, we do a good dead." Jason quickly suggested.

"I guess." Dick agreed with some reluctance, unsure if this idea could actually follow through. He stared down at his ragged shoes, kicking his legs out freely while feeling an unfamiliar new found freedom in his legs. "But what can we do now?"

Jason thought about it for a while. "Pick up trash?" He lazily proposed, only to see the unsatisfied pout of a the little blue eyed boy. He sighed, knowing this wouldn't have been easy.

The duo's attention was pried away from thought when they heard another child sobbing. "Come here kitty, kitty, kitty." The mother was calling softly at the tree top. Her daughter clutched the hems of her summer skirt, crying into the fabric.

"How about that?" Jason pointed.

"What?"

"Come on." He urged, taking Dick by his hand. He pulled his brother over to the distressed mother and sobbing toddler, and asked, "Cat in a tree?"

Startled, the mother turned around quickly, letting out a sigh of relief. "Yes. He climbed up too high and he just doesn't want to come down." She shook her head disappointedly while petting her daughter's hair.

Jason stepped forward and glanced at the tree's roots to the subtle dents in its limbs. "I might be able to help." He replied with a false sense of doubt. He grabbed a limb and pushed his foot into one of the tree's dents. He felt around for another firm branch, and pulled himself up.

Looking downwards, he gave a slight wave and a thumbs up before climbing the next branch.

At last, he managed to bring himself onto the same limb as the cat. He began to making clicking noises with his mouth, cooing and even purring sounds, though, the cat only seemed to back away. As he moved forward, he felt the weight of the branch teeter dangerously. "Birdie," Jason called out from the branch, "I'm going to need you to get under the cat."

Dick nodded and repositioned himself.

Jason moved across the branch another centimeter, shaking the branch as he did. The cat hissed, and leapt in the other direction, off the tree, and into Dick's arms. Upon seeing this, Jason's heart sank in relief and he climbed back down the tree.

"Here's your kitty." Dick grinned, petting the cat's soft grey fur before giving the animal back to its owners. He flushed pink when his stomach growled, and he nervously grabbed Jason's red jacket.

"Thank you for your help boys," the mother smiled, "you've taken a lot of stress off my shoulders for today. How about I take you to the market to get you boys a treat a token of thanks."

Before Dick could have a say, Jason quickly agreed.

They entered the market street with Dick chattering with the little girl and with Jason in conversation with the mother.

"So how old is your daughter? Jason asked.

"She's five, her name is Remy." The mother replied soothed. "How about your little guy? Is he your brother?"

"Yeah." Jason replied with a soft, yet apathetic smile. "He's eleven this year."

The mother nodded, "I can tell you boys are very close. Also, may I ask, why does he wear a mask? It's a bit early for Halloween don't you think?"

Jason had to think that question over for a moment, but everything was shattered the moment they passed by a familiar street vendor.

"That's him! The one who stole from me! The one with the red hood!"

"Shit." Jason cursed. He instinctively pulled his brother along with him and they ran through the twisting alley ways until they made it back onto their home street. They stood in one spot, panting. Once they had caught their breath, Jason lifted his brother' chin gently. "We should get back home now."

They pulled their bodies back to their living nightmare. It felt good, the feeling of exposure to the outside world, but it was also disappointing as Jason began to realize they had quickly burned off what they had ate, and soon felt hunger washing over him again. He let out an empty sigh, staring at his brother's somewhat sympathetic, yet, hopeful expression. It was a new change from all of the depression and Jason ruffled his hand against the mop of hair.

The door was, unsurprisingly, unlocked and the boys proceeded with caution. They tip toed through the hallway and creaked the door open.

No one inside.

Jason nudged his little brother inside their room. "Wait here." He whispered and shut the door.

Dick frowned as the door clicked shut. He examined the plastic domino mask around his face with the brassy reflection from the door knob. He traced the plastic with a smug smile, then proceeded to remove it from his face and placing it in a safe spot.

He huddled into his bed of cotton and fluff, shutting his weary eyes, only for them to instantly snap open from the sound of something clashing against the floor. He shot up like an alert fox and sneaked his way to the door. He opened it, and questioningly looked around. "Jason?" He squeaked, before trailing out the door.

He heard a growl, then a grunt, quickly after, a scream of pain. Dick's heart sped up and he dashed towards the sound source. He slipped as he entered the kitchen, landing against the harsh tiles beneath him. His lip split from the fall and he reached up to touch the liquid running down his mouth.

"Dumbass." Tom muttered as he stared down at Dick.

The young acrobat looked up to see Jason's back pushed against the burning stove. The burnt smell was unappealing, but the odor of sweltering skin and blood almost made Dick vomit. He began to feel dizzy, but his focus switched on when Jason was pushed farther against the stove.

Dick looked around. Practically living in a circus tent had taught him how to be resourceful since they were always on the move, they had to learn how to make the best out of what they had. He simply had to do the same.

He reached for a ragged floor towel and crawled to Tom's feet. Dick rolled the towel and sneakily placed it in front of Tom's ankles. He grabbed the two ends and with a hard yank, he pulled the towel, messily tripping Tom in the process.

As the man fell onto his stomach, the little acrobat tied the towel against the man's ankle and fled towards his brother.

Jason pushed himself off of the stove, nearly completely collapsing onto the floor. He felt his younger brother begin to tug at his arm and he gave Dick a tired glance.

"Jason!" Dick urged as he pulled his brother's arm, "Let's go! Jason! You're too heavy!"

They tiredly made their way to their room; Jason laid on his stomach in defeat.

Dick snuggled up to his brother's face, whimpering in worry.

Jason's eyes slowly trialed to Dick's worried face. He pathetically smiled, "get this jacket off me."

Dick nodded and began from the waist. He pulled the melted fabric, and saw Jason's body tense up as he began to peel it from the wound.

"Keep going." Jason insisted, as he pressed his face into the carpet. He tried to ignore the burn, but he couldn't help but to hiss sharply at the pain. He lifted his torso up for Dick to pull the hoodie over his worn body.

"What now?" Dick asked weakly.

Jason shut his eyes. "Sleep."

"But…" the black haired boy stared at the burn.

"There's nothing more to do Dicke. Get some sleep."

**NANANAAANANANANNNNANANANA**

_One week later (they didn't sleep for a week, one week just passed)_

The summer sun rose early, bringing its warmth through the window and gently waking the boys.

"Good morning Miss Sun." Dick chirped. "Good morning Jason."

Jason smiled, "Good morning little bird." He pushed himself up to a sitting position, wincing as the pain returned from his back, so he hunched over to try and find a more comfortable pose.

"Does it still hurt?"

"A little," Jason replied honestly as he stood up. "But I'm fine. Let's go to the kitchen."

Dick yawned and stretched his arms before wrapping his hand along Jason's pinky and ring finger. They kept quiet, but soon realized, no one was home. It was a routine for Wendy to leave the house to try to find work "to do." But it was rare for Wendy and Tom to try to find work "to do" at the same time. Both of them were futilely trying to keep the secret from one another, but both were miserably failing. Jason could see it, and even Dick could see it.

Dick leapt onto the a chair at the kitchen table. Times like this meant a chance of breakfast.

"So whatcha' want today?" Jason asked as he peered around the cabinets. He pulled out a box of cereal. "We got Capt'n Crunch," He opened the box. "and I think those are maggots…" He dropped the box and opened the fridge while moving all the bottles of beer to the side, "We have eggs!... that are long overdue… Hey Dick, has grassy green bread been invented yet?"

Dick tilted his head to the side. "No."

"Then we're not having that either." Jason fumbled. "Wanna' head down to the market again?"

"Okay." Dick shrugged as he leapt down from the chair.

They went back into their room to change, Jason pulled out another red hoodie.

"Why do we need to wear the same thing over and over?" Dick asked as he pulled the red t-shirt over his torso.

"To create a second identity for ourselves."

"Won't we just get caught faster?"

"Merchants won't try to lose their customers' trust by assuming every kid in a red t-shirt or a red hoodie is up to no good." Jason breathed. "They can't afford to lose a customer. That's why they set up their stands and lovely weekends."

"But," Dick wondered as Jason wrapped the plastic domino mask around his face once more. "Doesn't putting this mask on me just a dead giveaway?"

"That's why you keep your face down," Jason smirked, "Besides, they won't think a little kid to steal-."

Dick frowned.

"—because I will do the stealing." Jason quickly finished. They exited the house and used the twisting system of alleyways once more. They immediately dove into the crowd of people, instantly blending in.

Jason watched as Dick wandered to a stall. He looked up with hopeful eyes behind his domino mask and smiled to the merchant. "Hi!" He tweeted.

"Hello there son." The merchant greeted, tipping his hat. "Nice mask you got there."

"Thank you sir." Dick replied.

"Oh! Isn't he the cutest little thing!" A woman from behind the same stall squealed as she finished helping a customer to talk to Dick. "Can I get you anything sweetheart?"

Dick was looking around unsure. "I don't have any money." He frowned.

"No, don't worry about that!" The lady replied, handing him a golden apple.

Dick held the fruit in his hand. "I've only had the red ones before."

"These are sweeter, for a sweet thing like you."

"T-thank you!" Dick grinned and ran off towards Jason. "Look Jason!"

"Nice going, you steal that yourself?"

"No." Dick shook his head. "She gave it to me, because I was sweet."

"You puppy dog'd her!" Jason grinned.

Dick took a bite from the apple. "No I didn't. I was being honest."

"Yeah, yeah."

They nonchalantly chattered amongst the crowd of people. Some gave them suspicious stares, but none confronted them. It was exactly how Jason played it in his mind, people were too predictable.

Jason's sleight of hand had also improved. As they circled the market area, he had snagged a couple of strawberries, a carrot, and a pear from the stalls. When they made a full circle, they unexpectedly halted at the first stall they had arrived at.

The stall had been turned over and the crowd fearfully stood out of the way, allowing a man with a wad of cash in his hand to dash through the street.

"Jason…" Dick muttered.

"I know, pay it forward." Jason responded and sprinted, full fledge at the man.

Dick easily followed behind and surprised Jason by being able to keep up his pace.

Jason landed a baseball slide against the man's foot, tripping him. He slid to the other side and propped himself up easily.

Dick grabbed the money that scattered from the man's grip and toddled over to merchants. "Here you go." He smiled, as he handed the money back.

The merchants let out a grateful smile, but gasped as they turned their head to the scene.

The robber had pulled out a gun and pointed it directly at Jason. Dick watched as the robber lead Jason into the intricate alleyways. He ran towards the scene, halting when Jason yelled, "stay put!"

Dick stood nervously.

The robber nudged the butt of nose of the gun against the back of Jason's rib cage. He pushed him into the alleyway, centered in the middle of the darkness.

"You ruined my plan!" He screamed, spitting into the nape of Jason's neck. "Now I'm going to ruin you!"

"One thing, before you 'ruin' me." Jason suggested. "You shouldn't place a gun so close to a person."

"Why's that wise ass?"

"Cause." He began calmly. He hastily slipped the nose of the gun between his arm, leaving the barrel exposed to the outside. He pulled the weapon upwards between his arm, forcing his assaulter to shoot one round into the air. With an easy twist, he disarmed the man and picked up the gun

Jason cocked the gun, unaware of what was coming over him. He heard the man plead for his life, but most of the words were drained out from this strange, yet satisfying feeling.

It was power. From being powerless, to powerful.

Another bullet pierced the man, and without even trying, it went straight through the robber's head.

Then it was guilt that washed over him. Ashamed, what did he do?

He placed the barrel to the bottom of his chin.

This felt right. A bit better, every feeling was going away. Calming, numbness, this was better.

"Jason!"

_Shit!_

Jason dropped the gun and sprinted, dashing through the series of intricate alleyways unaware of his surroundings and what had gone around him. He didn't turn around to see Dick's face one last time, but all he knew was that he couldn't turn back now.

He had to leave.

He didn't have to leave. He wanted to leave. That's what he realized. He wanted freedom, and for once, the only thing that mattered was what he wanted.

Jason made it through the alleyways, exiting at a random point he felt right. He slumped against the wall. There was no turning back now. He wandered through the streets, his hoodie covering his face, and let the world take him for the time being. He didn't know where he was going to go, so he chose one side of the sidewalk and continued on.


	13. We're Harboring a Kidnapper

**A/N: Thank you for continuing to read my story! Also for those who asked, I will be going to Fanime.**

**Spring break has arrived, but I have quite a few things piled up that needs to be done. I will try to keep tabs for working on this story as well as the other crap I gotta' do. This story came out rather quickly because I had to expand the previous chapter, and the ending made more sense to spill out into a new chapter, which I added onto to create a new chapter; which also explains why it's a bit shorter than the other chapters.  
><strong>

Fight, Live, Retaliate

Chapter 13

We're Harboring a Kidnapper

_Present day._

"This just in, breaking news!" the television set blared, catching everyone's attention.

"Wonder what's up this time." Kid Flash noted.

"Wanted is a man known as Jason Todd who allegedly stabbed his former foster parent Tom Johnson and kidnapped his adopted son Richard Grayson. If anyone knows anything or have any information, please contact the police."

"No way." Dick murmured.

"Son of a bitch."

Jason sat stunned, trying to figure out the chemistry behind the scheme. Kidnapper? Jason Todd? No, no. Red Hood? More likely. BUT KIDNAPPER? He was about ready to slide a glock out from the gun holster strapped to his leg and spray 17 rounds of metal at the load of crap, then pull out his other glock to make his hit count 34.

He scanned his options.

Get Dick to confess. Potential outcomes: court hearing; can lead of one of two ways, buy into the story of a psychologically distressed child along with his brutal-man-stabbing-brother-who-apparently-kid-napped-his-distressed-brother-and-people-will-think-Jason-Todd-black-mailed-or-brain-washed-his-younger-brother-into-saying-"nonsensical"-things, or buy into the story of the "helpless-victim-who-just-went-through-a-divorce-and-boo-hoo's-for-his-lost-child."

That option was defiantly a dead end.

_Tell my side of the story? Who the hell is going to believe that brutal-man-stabbing-brother-who-apparently-kid-napped-… _

None of this was working, he was only thinking in circles. Maybe getting Tom to confess however… was highly unlikely. From Jason's past experiences, that man was as much of a masochist as he was a sadist. There was only one option left, one that he greatly disapproved.

Tom had to be caught in the act.

Dick noticed his brother's distraught stare, using the furrowed brow and clenched fist as enough evidence to say, his brother was not traught. Slowly, he gave a little tug on the side of Jason's growing hair, which was enough to snap Jason's attention back into reality more than quickly.

"Are you okay?" Dick whispered.

With his head tilt down and brown hair covering his red domino mask, he shook his head from left to right with much concentration. "This can't happen. It won't."

"Jason." Dick huffed gently, "I think we're going to have to break one of Bat's codes."

Jason reluctantly nodded.

The team simply watched the boy's conversation until it seemed that the two brothers came to a firm agreement. They watched as Jason peeled off his domino mask slowly, blinking once or twice to readjust to the naked feel. With a cold glare, he eyed the team, introducing himself.

"Jason Todd." He spoke confidently, but with a definite taste of unwillingness.

Artemis looked at the T.V. then back at Jason. Her eyes widened in disbelief for a subtle moment before commenting, "we have a kidnapper in Mount Justice?"

"No!" Dick squealed, quickly removing his sunglasses. "Richard Dick Grayson." He introduced himself as the television highlighted a photo of him.

The team glanced back and forth in a state of complete confusion. But as Jason was about to open his mouth to clear up the mix-up, his bat-communicator began to beep. He let out a heavy breath and turned it on, staring into the screen as Batman appeared on the it.

"I saw what happened on the news, explain… are you in Mount Justice?" He asked lowly.

"I'm in Mount Justice, as for the news, I can explain… this time."

"Then do it." Batman growled.

"Batman!" Dick shouted as he moved his head into the screen's view.

"Dick? Why are you two exposing your identities?"

"Long story." Jason mumbled.

"Explain."

Jason's lips twisted into an unpleasant impatience. "You're asking too many questions. As for the first one, I was framed."

"Framed?"

"That's what I said, Bats." Jason hissed, growing more impatient and frustrated with the dilemma. "Dick's right here." He assured as Dick clung closely to the brown motorcycle jacket that Jason wore.

Batman seemed a bit at ease when he saw his little bird get along with such a brutal character. Figures that Dick's charms affected the Red Hood too. "Jason." He sighed. "I don't want you to engage into trying to clear your name."

"Why not?"

"Your methods are just going to make you look guiltier, you won't be able to help Dick with his—"

"Don't YOU tell me what I can and can't do." Jason snapped. "I'm going to straighten this out."

"No." Batman stated flatly. "You will remain that Mount Justice until I return. I can arrive in about two hours and WE will straighten—"

Jason and shut out the communication. He jammed the device back into one of his pockets and ignored it completely as Batman tried to dial back.

"Whoa." Wally interjected. "Never seen anyone yell at Batman like that."

"That's because I'm not just anyone." Jason muttered, shrugging off the speedster's comment. "Are you kids doing anything today?"

"We're not kids!" Artemis shouted sourly for the team.

"With that attitude I'd have more luck calling Koriand'r or Red Arrow."

Aqua Lad stepped up as he caught onto Jason's hinting, "Batman told us to stay here."

"Come on! We'll help, with, whatever you need help with." Wally interjected, "It's obvious we aren't getting a mission any time soon, so let's do this!"

Artemis nodded in agreement, and eventually, so did the team.

Jason acknowledged their agreement and pulled out another communicator. "I'll call Red Arrow."

"Red Arrow?" Artemis spoke sharply, her voice cracking in astonishment.

"But we just said we were available to help." Superboy stood up.

"I know." Jason replied, "But this problem is… my problem, so I'm taking precautions. Roy will come down to help." _Only 'cause I know if he doesn't, I might blow up an entire city just to calm my ass down._

Jason bent over as he felt a tug on his jacket. "Yeah?"

"What will we be doing Jay?" The little bird tweeted.

"We will be looking for Tom and seeing what he's up to. You will be on this couch, getting some rest."

Dick frowned.

"Look bro, I would be more than glad to take you on a mission," Jason explained, "as long as you're physically capable of being on one."

"But I am." He pouted.

Jason lightly jabbed a sensitive area on the smaller boy's torso. Dick hissed and reared away from the touch and deathly glared at his brother.

"With injuries like that, you won't even be able to use your grappler." Jason shook his head.

"Recognize, Red Arrow. B-06."

All heads turned as Roy walked in. It was a rather, awkward moment as the team stared at their former teammate. Roy ignored the glances, and kept his eyes locked with Jason's as he casually strode towards him. "Finally slipped up?" He asked with a smirk as he saw Jason without his mask or helmet.

"No." He replied with reluctance, "I didn't have any other choice."

"Yeah, I figured. Saw your face plastered all over the news, says you kidnapped your own brother." Roy motioned to Dick. "Quite hard to believe."

Roy eventually turned his head to re-familiarize himself with all their faces again. "They coming?"

"Yeah." Jason replied simply. "We have about 3 hours and 30 minutes until Bats gets back, so let's go." He looked at Dick. "You, stay."

Without even studying at Dick's expression, Jason turned his head away and headed for an exit. Roy followed, and the rest of the team did as well. Wally looked over to his friend's expression; those big blue lonely eyes with his shaky lip made Dick look like an injured puppy.

"Can't he come along?" Wally asked. "Maybe he can just wait for us in the Bioship."

"No." Jason replied unarguably, putting on his domino mask and motorcycle helmet.

"Then I'll stay here." Wally spoke firmly.

Jason shrugged and the new found team left.

**NANNNANNANNANNANNNANAANANAN**

"Turn here." Jason explained. "Tom should be at work until 7:00 PM."

Jason checked his watch.

3:00 PM. _An hour and thirty minutes until Bats gets back._

The concealed Bioship hovered above Jason's former "home." An eerie feeling sank inside him as he looked from below. He gave a motion, signaling this was it. When the coast was clear, they zipped down from the Bioship, into the backyard.

Everyone watched as Jason interacted with the environment; Roy and M'gann had already picked up on the haunted memories he was dealing with. Jason kicked a glass bottle of alcohol that was littered in the grass and picked up a can, throwing it at the porch. His shoulders rose and fell from his deep shallow breaths and his hands fiercely rolled into a clench.

Roy nudged his head to Kadlur, then towards the house. The Young Justice leader nodded and led his team into the home.

The archer took easy steps towards the vigilante and casually swung his arm around his friend's shoulder. "We should get inside before someone notices us." Roy suggested simply but softly, "It's still day out."

Jason slumped his head in agreement and gently slid out of Roy's touch and headed towards the house.

The last man entered and shut the yard's door as well as they could, but the door still had an awkward slant to it. M'gann could have unlocked it telepathically, but Superboy was quick to act and instinctively pulled the door apart, forgetting it wasn't a highly guarded safe door.

"Kadlur, Artemis, Superboy, check the kitchen, bathroom, or living room," Jason ordered, "Its where he would usually throw documented papers. Look for police reports, or anything like that. Roy, Miss Martian, come with me."

The trio disappeared into another room and Kadlur began to search the kitchen. "Superboy, check the living room, Artemis, bathroom." The other two nodded and set to search in their areas.

Kadlur furrowed his brow as he began to carelessly clear the table of any beer cans and empty cereal boxes. He found a pen, leading him to suspect that some paperwork was filed in the kitchen. He opened the cabinets and shuffled through the cracked bowls, careful not to prick himself against the sharp blades of glass. There was nothing here, so he trailed into the adjoining living room.

"Anything Superboy?" He asked as he waved the pen.

"Can't find anything." Superboy responded as he lifted up a couch, dropping it down when he found nothing of interest. "How does anyone live in here?" He asked curiously as he shuffled through the mess of rags, clothes, and moldy food.

"Guys!" Artemis called, sticking her head into the hallways. "I found something."

**NANNNANNANNANNANNNANAANANAN**

_4:00 PM_

"Thanks for staying with me Wally." Dick smiled lightly as Wally helped him lay back down onto the couch.

"Unofficial missions wouldn't be as enjoyable without you." Wally spoke optimistically, "And this way, Batman won't yell at me."

Dick laughed, "I guess you're right."

"So what's it like?" Wally asked excitedly.

"What's what like?"

"Living with Bruce Wayne and hanging out with Batman. Does Bruce know?"

Dick thought about it for a while. Out of all the questions Wally asked, it had to be that one. "I don't talk to Bruce that often, though sometimes Batman comes to visit the Wayne manor."

Wally tilted his head. "So Bruce and Batman are like BFF's?"

"Probably." The little acrobat chirped, trying to piece things together. Now that he had the time to think about it, it would have just made a lot of sense if Bruce Wayne was Batman.

"Recognize Batman, 02."

****NANNNANNANNANNANNNANAANANAN****

"You alright?" Roy asked as Jason led them into his old room.

Jason nodded. "I'm fine, just—reliving some moments." He sighed, pushing the door open.

"What should we be looking for?" Miss Martian asked as she floated into the room.

"Nothing here." Jason breathed out uneasily. "I just wanted to take a look." He muttered, looking at the blood stained floor and the water molded walls. He took a few paces inside before slumping down onto the ground with his back pressed against the wall. He looked up in defeat, a little grateful that his helmet hid his tell-tale eyes, but ungrateful that his gestures and body movements were proving to become a dead giveaway.

Roy took a seat on the carpet. "Let's go help the others Jason. There's no time to waste here."

Jason looked at his watch. _Thirty minutes.  
><em>

Despite the fact he had told the duo that nothing was here, M'gann took the liberty to inspect anyway. Even though she had never physically been here, it was exactly how it was in Robin's dreams. She felt the destroyed dog bed and slid open the closet door to see a pile of dirtied clothes sitting on the ground. The closet didn't have any shelves, it was just another hiding spot.

She turned her head away as she imagined little Dick Grayson trying to blend himself into the walls.

"Was this where you two lived?" She asked in a near whisper.

"Yeah." Jason spoke with a broken voice as Roy helped him onto his feet. He waved his hand to an empty area of the room. "I slept there," then he waved towards the dog bed, "Dick slept there. We didn't get fed often, so we would sneak out and go to the market place, steal something to eat, then do something right to supplement for our wrongs." He reminisced as he faced the window. "It was Dick's idea."

"That's how Robin and Red Hood appeared." M'gann replied in realization. "You two were always popping up on the news and in papers."

Jason simply nodded. "We eventually got the hang of rescuing cats. Next thing you know, we're doing the police's jobs. Things just escalated into greater goods…" He paused and skipped forward, chuckling a bit. "Batman took me in after I ran off. I tried to steal the wheels off the Batmobile, but it wasn't long until I ran off again, but we still kept in touch. I hate to admit, but he helped me out in a long run."

"Guys! I found something!" The trio heard Artemis called.

They all met back up outside the bathroom to see Artemis hold a USB flash drive. "Believe it or not, this was in a shampoo bottle." She said in disbelief. "I accidently knocked over the bottle and heard this rattled from the inside."

Jason held the flash drive, "had to be important to hide something like that. Let's get this back to Mount Justice." He checked his watch for the last time. "It's 4:00 now, let's get go, we only got half an hour."


	14. Some Secrets Resolved

**A/N: When was the last time I updated this… sorry for the wait guys! . THAAAAAANKKKKKYOUUUUUUU FOR REVIEWINGGGGG, ALERTTTTING, AND FAVING! Loves to all y'all C:**

**I know I'm uploading this at an extremely sluggish rate, which I do apologize for. I'm in the middle of sorting some things out with another one of my newer works, but I ask if you know what's going on, to leave it be. It'll all get sorted. Also, FANIME IS IN TWO DAYS! SEE YOU THERE IF YOU'RE GOING! (And see you at San Diego Comic Con if you're heading over there as well!)**

Fight, Live, Retaliate

Chapter 14

Some Secrets Resolved

"Dick." Batman spoke uneasily, noting that Wally had learned Robin's identity. "Where's Jason?"

"Ahh…" Dick thought for a moment, looking worriedly at the ears of Batman's cowl.

"And the rest of Young Justice?"

Dick stammered, then looked away.

"I'm here Bats." A voice called out bitterly, causing them to turn around to meet the voice. Jason took off his helmet and headed towards his family with Red Arrow and the rest of the team trailing behind.

Batman was quick to speak in a low, protective, yet dissatisfied voice. "Where were you?" He asked a little less than calmly.

"I was investigating."

"I told you to stay put."

Jason shook his head and took out the USB drive. "Doesn't matter now, look, you got a computer?"

"That's out of the question." The Dark Knight growled as he snatched the flash drive as Jason waved it in his hand. "How can I trust you if you can't follow simple directions?"

Jason brought himself forward, his nose an inch from Batman's lip. "You don't have to," he snarled, "and I won't pull myself off this case."

"Alright, easy now." Roy insisted lightly, casually pulling Jason back.

Though, Jason wasn't the one to take things lightly, especially not a situation like this one. He roughly shrugged his shoulders and drew away from the archer's hands while purposely bumping into Batman as he made his way towards Dick.

"Stay away from him Jason." Batman ordered, but it was obvious Jason didn't budge nor flinch for a second. He simply ran his gloved hand through Dick's mess of hair, being as gentle as he possibly could.

"I'm guessing Batman doesn't know Jason and Dick are brothers huh?" Wally spoke up mindlessly.

Everyone looked at Batman who showed no expression, but seemed to have unenthusiastically accepted it by walking out of the room to give the boys some time. "I'm going to quickly scan through the contents of this flash drive, drop by in ten minutes." He spoke before leaving.

The team stood awkwardly as Jason brushed his forehead against Dick's out of a mutual greeting.

**NAAANAANANANANANANANA BATMANNNN**

From under the cowl, Bruce kept his eyes glued to the large computer screen and rapidly scanned the files in less than a minute. All the files in the USB were encrypted, but they were nothing that the Dark Knight couldn't handle. He dug through the contents for the remaining minutes he had, until he heard the door slide open and turned around to see Jason, M'gann, and Roy.

"Foster brothers?" Jason could hear Batman ask as he continued to the large computer.

"Yeah." He responded.

"Where's Kadlur? He's the team leader."

"I trust M'gann more."

Batman grit his teeth, unwilling to argue any further, and quickly tapped at the computer keys. Bio-sheets and other files and photos began to swarm onto the screen. They were immediately organized into their corresponding cases then by date.

"Open that one." Roy assisted as he pointed to the screen. It was a financial records sheet, showing a substantial growth in funds starting from year one, to year six. All jaws dropped except for Batman's. The base investment began with a mere $5,000 which grew into $4.7 million.

Sparking further interest, they began to open every folder and ever text document, they went through each gruesome picture and even a few shameful video clips.

M'gann's weak heart caused her to leave the room earlier than intended, but she kept a mental link with Roy and Jason in case she ever wanted to peak back in.

"Tom's a children's slave dealer." Roy spoke first, bringing in the bad news that neither of the other two wanted to admit.

Bruce slammed a clenched fist against the keyboard top which happened to open the file to Jason's illegal "adoption." His eyes couldn't erase what he saw, from the horrible adjectives that described him to the horrific photos provided with the analysis. He turned sharply, "you were sold for $365?," he asked, even though the answer was already cleared.

Jason shrugged while averting his gaze. _So this is how much Bats thinks I'm worth?_

"How about Dick?"

From behind his domino mask, his eyes narrowed. He always felt somewhere inside that Batman never really cared for him. He just probably wanted one less soul to watch over or have to take into a jail cell. "He was legally adopted." He Jason replied sourly, a tone that Batman had always tuned out.

The Dark Knight simply nodded. "He must have invested in child slavery, keeping a low key by maintaining a normal persona. Normal job, simple house..." he trailed back to the computer screen. He quickly closed a photo after immediately registering the boy as a Jason when he was younger. He was battered and left inside a bathtub to be washed where his eyes were left glazed and lifeless.

Bruce didn't think he could endure anymore, but Batman knew he had to. "Is there anything you know that can help us catch this guy?"

Jason shrugged. "We have enough evidence to withhold this guy."

"But not a clue where he is." Roy finished. "His house doesn't seem inhabitable."

"Trust me," Jason began, "if I could live in that sty, so could he."

"But do you know where he is now?" Batman growled with only that one thing on his mind.

The two shook their heads simultaneously, with Jason suggesting, "he usually works at this time. He would head back home late at night."

"How late?"

"I don't know, 2 A.M. regularly?" Jason muttered, remembering the smaller details lazily.

"Do you know where he works?"

"Near the harbor if I recall."

The long, black cape hovered up and followed Bruce's stride as he walked around Roy and Jason and over to the exit. The two looked at one another and Roy could easily tell that Jason was not amused. He knew Jason didn't like to be left out on the details and would demand to know every aspect of anything relevant to a case.

Batman was always the complete opposite, believing that by keeping the harsher details away from your loved ones, they would be safer.

The archer followed the gunman as he kept up with Batman's side, repeatedly asking, "tell me, Bats. You can't keep things from us forever, we're going to learn eventually!"

"Unfortunately, this isn't a child's mission. I will send these files to the police and inform them of the potential danger." He spoke lowly.

"So your office workers get the story and I don't? What kind of bullshit is this Bats?"

"I don't want to put you in danger." Batman replied quickly, trying to make his way around Jason who had now put himself in front of the larger man.

Jason took a stand, pushing his index finger to the carbon plated bat symbol. "It's not danger you're worried about." He spoke in a matter of fact. "You think I'll screw up and make everything worse."

Batman kept silent and glared down at the man he made. With a gloved hand, he pushed Jason from his path and continued. Jason didn't bother to follow. Instead he turned around to look at Roy who kept an impartial expression and motioned for him to follow as they returned back to the Young Justice sitting room.

"So what happened Jay?" Dick chirped as he saw his brother enter the room again.

"Nothing kid." He sighed with a little frustration. "Just go get some sleep."

Dick knew he wasn't ready to sleep, but shut his eyes tenderly to try to give Jason some reassurance. His ears were sharp as he heard the team talk after ten minutes of utter silence. He could make out all the other voices of the Young Justice team, but Jason's and Roy's were distinctively low and quiet.

"Child slaves?" Artemis screamed, her voice cracking as she openly expressed her astonishment.

Jason could only nod.

"We busted something like this a year ago, you remember Jason?" Roy recalled as he began to pick out several of details that would provide a cruel, but clear example of the severity of the event. "Kids were cramped in crates and sold as soon as possible. It was common to see their ribcage through their skin, and each were being sold for either sadistic fun, human laziness, or sex."

Jason slid the motorcycle jacket off his torso and grabbed the ends of his shirt and pulled it off over his head. He turned around, letting the team take in the sight of his scarred back, and undoubtedly heard the sharp inhale of breaths as he did.

"It's easier to say than it is to imagine." Jason spoke with a slightly controlled, flat tone. "But once you see the damage, it's hard to forget." His face remained hard and his expression was unchanging, unfaltering, he couldn't let his defenses fall now, at such a critical time. "Child slaves are common toys for the rich." He added. "I was a product, sold for 365—"

"$365 dollars?" Wally asked loudly, wide-eyed,

"Thousand." Jason finished. "$365,000." He sighed as he put on his shirt and felt as the archer swung an arm around his shoulder. Jason's shoulders felt heavy with the additional weight, but at least it was the weight of friendship and not of burdens. "The minute you have a price tag slapped on you, is the moment you lose all your self-worth."

Dick could feel tears well up in his closed eyes as he tried not to let the tears slip. His face was still turned towards the Young Justice team and crying would just blow his cover.

But his quivering body wasn't enough to fool his experienced brother who approached him the instant he saw water drops gather at his bristle lashes and sat on the ground to wipe away the tears with his ungloved finger.

"You're not an item." Dick whimpered with eyes still gently shut. "You're my brother."

Jason didn't say anything as he watched the little bird eventually drift back off to sleep. He must have been exhausted, the broken bones surely didn't help make him feel any better. He adjusted the blanket so that he was snuggled close into Dick's neck and laid back, waiting for some kind of cue, telling him to get up and leave.

But nothing sounded, nothing stirred. They all stood idly and quietly for another minute or so, just watching the soft movements of Dick's breathing. They were all stunned and wanted to reach out to hug the two boys.

Jason continued to think, before finally standing up to take charge. "Speed-boy, Fish-boy, Superboy, we're going to the harbor. M'gann, Roy, backup. Artemis, stay."

"What! Why do I have to stay?"

"'Cause we already got an archer." Roy winked as he ran off with the group.

"So what are we doing?" Wally asked as he kept an extremely light jog to keep up with his team mates.

"While Bats is fluttering his cape around, trying to find useless evidence at Tom's house, we're going to try and find Tom." Jason smirked as he put his mask back on.

**NANANANNAAAAANANNANANA BATMAN!**

The team arrived to the warehouse shipment docks and carefully pressed their backs against the iron crates while M'gann flew in a camouflage in the sky. Ships came and left, only to dock momentarily and bring in the new imports while shipping out the exports.

Jason kept a close eye on each worker that maneuvered through the crates… _what the $!* ? Through the crates?_ He peeled his eye away for a second to face the group. "Be careful, they're some kind of ali—."

Suddenly, a long, gray, deformed vine-like arm sprung through the crate with ease and pulled Jason against the iron, pinning him as it did.

"What the hell is that?" Wally shouted as Superboy moved quickly into action to fend off the strange morphing limbs. To Superboy, they were easy to break, but the annoying part was that the loose pieces were able to wriggle back together and form a new, large limb.

The limb morphed into a harbor worker that was agile and quick. He swooped a jab at Superboy with its knife hands, cutting just the edge of his shirt with the most ease.

"What do we do Jason?" Wally shouted who didn't bother back a reply. He was too busy trying to analyze what these things were. He heard the fog horn of the ship begin to set and turned to see the ship trying to leave. "Arrow!"

"On it." The archer replied instantly, drawing out a tracker arrow and easily hitting his target.

"_M'gann!" _Jason shouted mentally.

"_Yes?"_

"_Follow that ship for a while, show me what you see."_

Miss Martian flew off still camouflaged and hovered just above the ship. She placed a mental image of the ship into Jason's mind and got slightly closer, and closer. The ship workers flashed her an intense glare and she knew she was caught.

Mentally, she threw the men against one of the ship walls and flew down gently. She openly landed and took cautious steps on the ship's surface.

"_M'gann! Hold back!" _Jason commanded, grunting as he was hit in the chin with a disfigured limb. _'Kadlur, go after her! M'gann, what are you doing?"_

"_I got a plan!" _Roy shouted through his mind as loud as he could over the noise of fighting and confusion. _"Round these things up."_

As Kadlur dove into the chilly waters, Superboy, Red Hood, and Kid Flash began their battle plan. Connor tackled and threw the creatures on top of one another, as one recovered from his throw, another creature would soon pile on. Jason purposely missed, and shot at the base of the creature, backing it up as Wally wrapped the mesh of fishnets amongst the group.

With three trick arrows drawn, Roy released the bowstring and the three arrows zipped through the air. They all landed perfectly against the creatures, and the trick arrows engulfed the creatures in a crystalline structure of ice.

"_Kadlur, M'gann?"_ Jason called.

"_Jason, we are turning the ship around."_ Kadlur responded.

"_You won't believe what we just found."_ M'gann added with a hint of despair.


	15. This is Enough Evidence

**A/N: Fanime's over! Awh, it was a good run, but I'll miss it. I rather did enjoy sitting and sketching DC/MARVEL cosplayers and giving them little sketches, though I was only able to really give out one to a Batman, Nightwing, and Deadpool cause in the end, I couldn't find the rest; I was drawing without them knowing, -CREEPY SKETCHING STALKER TO YOUR RIGHT-**

Fight, Live, Retaliate

Chapter 15

Llamas and Circles in the Corn Field

"Kadlur and M'gann had cleared the ship the minute they had boarded it. Surprising, there were only two workers and a single captain on board, making the "taking out the trash," a much easier task. As Kadlur took over the steering wheel of the ship, M'gann scanned the area.

"Her eyes twinkled as she caught sight of the familiar pile of fluff and reached out to grab it. As her palms touched the fluff, she laced her fingers through the softness and pulled off a clump and pressed it to her nose.

"It smelled foul and she pulled her nose away.

"'NERRRGHHHHH!' The Llama said as it felt a clump of it fur being pulled out. 'What you be doing with my fur you silly little girl?'

"'I'm sorry magical, mysterious Llama spirit living in this ship!' M'gann prayed, as she tried to return the fluff that refused to stick back onto the Llama's skin.

"'Nooooo!' The Llama shrieked, 'once you have plucked my fur, you must offer it to those who made the circles in the corn field!'

"'Corn field?' She asked as she floated to a window. Outside was a strange sight to take in. The boat was sailing across land and desert until it finally ended at a strange corn field where Superboy and Kid Flash were removing giant piles of corn plant and formed equal circles in the corn field."

"That's not what happened!" Dick pouted as he laid down on the couch while Jason sat on the floor.

"Yes it is! I'm the story teller, I tell it how it is." Jason stated with a matter of fact. He crossed his arms across his chest, sitting straighter than usual. He stared into his brother's expression, eyes irate and lower lip jutting out. He sighed in defeat. "Fine. Roll the real chapter…"

Fight, Live, Retaliate

Chapter 15

This is Enough Evidence

Kadlur and M'gann had cleared the ship the minute they had boarded it. Surprising, there were only two workers and a single captain on board, making the "taking out the trash," a much easier task. As Kadlur took over the steering wheel of the ship, M'gann scanned the area.

She floated through the cabins of the ship, taking in the similar lining of crates every two feet or so. She peaked in a supposed air hole; the crates were cramped, small, but filled with the same thing.

Children.

They all looked at her with fear or aggression. Some bared their teeth at her when she got too close.

"I'm not here to hurt any of you." M'gann spoke gently, both hands raised with palms facing out to show that she was going to cause no harm. The more aggressive ones seemed to have lost interest and turned around so that their naked backs were facing the Martian.

"_Kadlur,"_ M'gann called out mentally, _"there's a shipment of children down here."_

"_M'gann, see if any of them need special medical attention. I'm changing course back to the harbor."_

She did as she was told, looking at all of the children cautiously but carefully, making sure that none of them would lash out while she was inspecting. All the children seemed to be physically fine, but mentally, each was a train wreck with their childhoods taken away from them.

"_Kadlur? M'gann?" _They heard Jason call.

"_Jason, we're turning the ship around." _Kadlur responded.

"_You won't believe what we just found."_ M'gann added with a hint of despair. Her mind trailed off as she only could watch the children interact within the crates. As she felt the boat come to a halt and the team calling her to come out from the cabins, she rushed back up the stairs and back onto the harbor.

"Don't go off on your own, ever, again." Jason demanded as he grabbed M'gann's shoulders roughly. As he released his grip, she could hear him mutter a thank you in the back of his mind.

Roy plucked his tracker arrow off the boat knowing that it was no longer going to be needed. He was grateful that he aimed so close to the deck rather than the base of the ship. Sliding the arrow back into his quiver, he followed Jason as he led them onto the deck.

The scenery was familiar to him and Jason exhaled unevenly as unwanted feelings began to devour him. He shook his head, snapping his focus back into the present, trying to keep it from straying too far in the past. He quickly turned around in an act of bewilderment when Roy placed his unpredicted hand on his shoulder. Pulling back, he exhaled again, breathing in shallowly, only to roughly have his breathing rock without rhythm.

"Jason, calm—"

"I am calm, Roy." He snarled from under his mask. Jason's muscles were tensed, his fists clenched, to the point that if his knuckles were visible, they would have been solid white. He navigated through the ship easily, but the eerie feeling lingered harshly. The deeper through the ship he went, the more the unsettling emotions would grip to the soles of his feet, telling him not to dive in any deeper.

Roy maneuvered himself to an even stance with Jason, and eventually turned himself to stand in front of his friend. "I'll understand if this isn't easy for you, which is why I'm telling you, you don't have to do this. I'll lead the investigation from here. You can head back to Mount Justice and hang out with your brother."

Jason shook his head slowly, side to side. He grabbed Roy's shoulder and moved Roy behind himself. "There's something I have to do first." He replied lowly.

As they all reached the storage room, where M'gann had located the stash of children, he barked out the orders. "Superboy! There's extra stashes of kids under the floorboards, I need you to use your super-hearing to locate them, Aqua Lad, assist him. Martian, Kid Flash, take over crates A-78 to A-85. Roy, with me."

Wally squatted down and begun to undo one of the locks of the crates. "I wonder what he'll be doing." He muttered as he watched Jason and Roy sit in front of a single crate that was isolated from the rest.

"He has his reasons." M'gann replied with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, I guess…" he replied unenthusiastically, tossing the lock to the side as he opened the crate door. The children inside didn't move. Instead, they were washed with fear and backed to the farthest end of the crate. Wally's expression turned sympathetic, and he extended an open hand as truce and treaty. The little girl inside the crate reached out to grip as much of the young superhero's hand as she could with her tiny fingers. The boy in the back had also done the same after registering Kid Flash as an ally.

Wally smiled, but his heart was broken. Looking around to his nearest teammates, they had all returned his expression and slowly began luring the children out of their crates and into their arms for a moment of comfort. Some were harder to gain trust from, but others still were holding onto a string of hope that they soon would be saved.

Superboy was able to hearing the shallow breathing of life underneath the wooden floors. It was a haunting sound, being able to hear some breaths that were sick, and some that were close to death. "This one." He growled with anger towards those who had started this mess.

Unwilling to break the boards himself, Connor asked Kadlur to do it, who removed the boards as gently as he could. Just as his super hearing had heard, there were two young teenagers curled underneath the floorboards that were barely awake. They squinted as a dim level of light hit their eyes and they stared up with confusion.

The way they both were able to fit in such a tight space was obviously unhealthy for them, but it was troubling to Connor and Kadlur to mention how small they were. Their faces were beginning to mature, but their bodies showed skin on bones.

The two were more confused than were they scared. Sitting up, they soon figured that they were unable to assist themselves out of the small hole. Their bodies were numb and worn down, so the heroes had to lift them out.

But Kadlur and Conner also had their share of children who were weary or who refused to be helped. They turned to Jason just as how Wally and M'gann did, looking for further instructions.

Jason turned around momentarily, noting how the team was struggling, but it was something he had predicted. "Just remove the ones that are willing to leave, I'll get the others." He told, his voice a bit softer than usual. A click sounded from the lock Roy had been working on and the archer removed the lock from the crate.

"That one was a little tough." The archer breathed out, smiling to himself as he finally got the lock off. He opened the crate to find a boy laying inside, roughed up and eyes fighting to stay open.

He was wearing a red, moth-hole-filled-shirt, and jeans ripped to the point that it was missing one leg and the other was near to falling off too. His skin that was visible was bruised or cut, with distinct burns flaring on his inner thigh. His gaze was glossy, uncaring, but ready to take whatever was going to come at him. He stayed silent, unwilling to willingly move.

"Dang—"

"Oh !#$ !" Jason choked out. He knew that the boy had used up all his fight, but not his courage and competence. He quickly pulled the boy out, whispering, "we're going to get you out of here, but I'm going to need you to get the others out of their crates." He only wanted to hug the boy longer, but knew everything could wait until the situation was sorted.

"Jay?" the boy asked tiredly, though, was able to register the matured voiced. Looking up to see a hooded figure, he frowned. "Can't be."

"Tim, it's me."

"Ha—ah, C-can't go crazy now." Tim chuckled a sigh. "I no— don't know you, sorry."

Jason took off his hood and the mask that laid beneath it. "It's really me Tim." He spoke flatly, just trying to get the teenager to believe him. He brushed his forehead against the other's mop of mop of black hair, and felt Tim nod beneath him.

The teenager gripped weakly onto Jason's shoulder, trying to push himself onto his feet. Jason and Roy quickly assisted, and were more of uneasily dragging Tim's feet instead of helping him walk. They mindlessly apologized, but Tim said that he understood. He couldn't tell him that his ankles were broken, and refused to cooperate, so he used the excuse that his legs fell asleep and were still a bit numb.

They stopped in front of the crate that Wally and M'gann sat near.

"Any luck on this one?" Jason asked as he put on his mask and hood.

"None." Wally responded. "Who's that?"

"Tim." He responded, as he lowered Tim onto the ground next to the crate. "…old friend."

"Hey there." Tim spoke gently, cooing the child inside the crate.

Like a magician, Tim was able to pull the remaining children out of their crates just by greeting them. Even the most hostile of children came out to give Tim a heartwarming hug, refusing to release the tattered fabric on his back.

"What's going on?" Wally asked, as he looked up to Jason.

"That's Tim Drake." Jason replied uneasily. "We used to be in the same shipment, but I was moved out to another one. Usually, in each shipment, there's always one person who was willing to take all the hits that came with being part of this system. Tim was one of them." Jason sighed. "I took the liberty to be one when I was moved into a new shipment, but it only lasted for a couple of years. Tim's been at it for at least six or seven."

Wally nodded, knowing that being the person who protected the younglings would have easily gained every ounce of their trust.

After being able to lure all the children out of their crates, Jason and Roy helped Tim back up and led them out, off the ship. In front of them, Batman and part of the city's police department had been waiting.

"Red Hood. I thought I told you to stay back at base." Batman spoke lowly, his tone serious and cold.

Jason looked away, not wanting to comment. "And I thought that you were going to investigate Tom's house."

The Dark Knight's eyes narrowed. "I can take matters from here. Take the team and head back to base."

"I'll be taking Tim back to my apartment." Jason stated as he held stubbornly to his friend. Despite how he and Tim were having constant, silly quarrels, he wasn't going to let anyone split them apart again. They may have been enemies during easier times, but nonetheless, they were still friends to an extent.

"Red Hood, this is an official investigation and I can't let you be rash." Batman responded with full intent of taking Tim for question. "After we ask, Tim, some questions, we'll see about being able to put him into your care."

"You and I both know that after you take him away from me, I'll never see him again!" Jason growled deeply.

"Batman, I promise you that he'll bring Tim back for question by tomorrow." Red Arrow began. "I'll take full responsibility if he doesn't."

Batman remained quiet, an act that always pushed Jason to his limits.

"You don't trust me." Jason stated.

**NNANNANANANNNANANANAA MOUNT JUSTICE!**

"Then Batman came down and landed a fist in Two Face's face…faces…?"

Dick clapped excitedly, but still a bit groggy from his nap. He had just woken up from his slumber, and insisted that Artemis tell him a story to pass the time. Ever since he had woken up, he only was waiting for Jason to come home, whining and pouting; "where's Jay?" he would ask every two minutes with a sleepy voice.

And two minutes had just passed again.

"Where's Jay?" Dick chirped a bit more lively as his body begun to waken.

"On a mission, he'll be back soon." Artemis smiled. Though, secretly, she slightly resented being left behind. As much as she loved Dick, she had been waiting for hours, watching the child sleep until he had finally woken up from his, what-seemed-to-be hibernation.

The mountain's recognition system blared out names and numbers, and Artemis turned around in surprise.

"Finally, you're back! What did I miss?" She asked immediately.

Wally shook his head as he plopped a seat next to Artemis on the ground. "Trust me, you didn't want to be there."

"Was it bad?"

"Worse." He muttered. "I wouldn't be able to rid the images from my mind if I tried."

It was then did she feel a bit thankful for being kept back, though, it also only made her curious to what Wally had seen. She wrapped an arm around Wally's shoulder in a gesture of comfort, and the orange haired boy replied with a sad smile. She turned her glance back towards Dick momentarily, but the little bird was only looking up to Jason, who had a scorn from behind his domino mask.

Jason dropped his helmet to the ground. His chest was high and his muscles were tensed. Both of his fists were clenched and his eyes were only focused on Batman.

"You just had to take him away from me, is that it?" He yelled, voice was coarse.

"He'll be in good hands." Batman spoke. "I can assure you that."

"No! You just don't trust me to take care of him!" Jason retorted, his finger pointing straight to Dick. "Just like how you don't trust me with my little brother! Would you let strangers take care of someone you loved?"

"Jason, calm down—"

"No, not you too. Don't tell me to calm down! Who gives you the right to tell me what to feel? Do you understand me? You say you do! But what do you know? You're just a spoiled rich kid who lost his par—" Jason's neck snapped to the side and his glare was still hard. He could feel the sting linger on his cheek, despite the fact Batman's hand was gloved.

Jason clenched his teeth, and bit back the remaining words. He understood he may have gone too far, but something inside him told him to keep going; but he didn't.

"Jay!" Dick screamed. He pushed himself off the couch and tumbled to his older brother. He felt a sharp pain rip through his side and he doubled over, grasping the sore areas.

Jason and Batman quickly squatted down, each with one hand on their little bird's back. "Are you okay?" They both asked simultaneously.

"Why'd you hit Jay?" Dick shouted towards the Dark Knight. "He didn't do anything wrong!"

Bruce was taken back, and his eyes widened with guilt. "I'm sorry Robin, I was angry."

"That doesn't give you any right!" Robin replied, as he slowly got back up to grab the loose ends of Jason's motorcycle jacket.

"You should lay down, rest up." Jason insisted, as he lifted Dick in his arms to cradle.

"I'll be fine, Jay." Dick responded, lifting a small finger to wipe away the tear that was slipping from the edges of Jason's domino mask. "Why are you crying?"

Jason didn't realize that tears were flowing until it was mentioned. He began to blink rapidly, trying to keep them back inside. "I think I'm missing someone." He replied with a cracked tone. "But I'll be fine too."

Bruce turned around and began to walk towards the exit.

"Where you going Batman?" Roy asked with a smug expression.

"I have something I need to do."

"Damn right you do."


End file.
